Sharapova survives Harkleroad scare

Fourth seed Maria Sharapova reached the third round of the Australian Open with a scrappy 6-1 7-5 win over American Ashley Harkleroad.

The 2004 Wimbledon champion started in emphatic fashion, breaking Harkleroad in her opening service game.

Sharapova then broke Harkleroad again in the sixth game to close out the first set in just 25 minutes.

Unforced errors crept into Sharapova’s game in the second set as Harkleroad chased down everything the former world number one threw at her.

Despite going down a break, Harkleroad fought back and had three set points on Sharapova’s serve in the 10th game.

But Sharapova’s first serve was strong all night and it performed under pressure as she held before breaking back and serving out the match.

Despite winning in straight sets, Sharapova committed 31 unforced errors, six more than her opponent and 13 more than her winners count.

After the match Sharapova, 18, revealed that blisters on her feet had distracted her, causing her to lose her way.

“I’ve never got blisters before on my feet, so I was kind of a little shocked and forgot what I was doing out there,” said Sharapova.

“It took me a little while just to get a groove again.

“I broke and then I didn’t take the opportunity to finish it off. It was just good for me to kind of realise that once I’m up a break, I need to finish it off rather than just play another four games out there for the crowd.”

Sharapova also shunned suggestions that her off-court interests are disrupting her on-court performance.

“I’m not one-dimensional,” she said. “I don’t want to finish my tennis career and just sit there and be empty-handed. I want to have a lot of opportunities.”

Sharapova will now face Jelena Kostanic of Croatia and another victory could set up a fourth-round clash with former world number one and defending champion Serena Williams.