As expected Maria Sharapova easily beat Elena Vesina 6-3 6-0 in the third round of the Australian Open. The first set started with the first two games on serve but the next five games were breaks. At 4-3 Maria finally help serve for a 5-3 lead and then broke once again to take the set.

“I was giving her too many looks at my second serve,” she said. “We just kept breaking each other.” In the second set Maria won every game to take the set and match. “I’m really excited, it gets tougher from here and I’m really looking forward to stepping it up and playing at the next level,” she said.

The match lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes. Maria Sharapova will now play Elena Dementieva in the third round, who beat Shahar Peer 6-2 6-0 to advance to round 3.

Sharapova is right on course for her bid for the Australian Open 2008 crown reaching the second week without any real problems.