Maria Sharapova suffered a late wobble in the blazing centre court heat before easing past 14th seed Anastasija Sevastova 6-1 7-6(4) to reach the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday.
With the temperatures soaring, the former champion fired a barrage of winners past the Latvian to roar through the first set in 23 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.
Sharapova wavered when serving for the match at 5-4, allowing Sevastova to drag the match into a tiebreak, but the Russian doubled down on her baseline firepower to raise three match points quickly.
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