Maria eases past Davenport

Fifth-ranked Maria Sharapova put an end to new mom Lindsey Davenport's strong comeback, taking a 6-1, 6-3 victory Wednesday to reach the Australian Open third round.

The eagerly awaited match pitted Davenport, who was 19-1 with three titles since returning to the tour, against a former Grand Slam winner for the first time since she took maternity leave to give birth to son Jagger last June.

"From the day I found out, I started working for this game," Sharapova said of the draw. "I approached it like it's a final."

Locked in and sharp from the start, Sharapova yielded only six points in the first five games, keeping Davenport constantly on the run. Nothing much was going right for Davenport, who saw her serves come back for winners and passing shots zip past when she ventured to the net.

The crowd, which had started roughly divided in their support of the two players, with a sprinkling of American flags scattered around packed Rod Laver Arena, largely shifted to underdog Davenport and cheered loudly when she finally held for her first game to pull to 5-1.

Sharapova held to finish off the set in 26 minutes with a crisp backhand cross-court winner.

In the second set, Davenport started showing flashes of the skills that carried her to three Grand Slam titles and the No. 1 ranking. She fended off triple-break oint while serving at 3-3 before Sharapova cashed a fourth with a sharply angled backhand service return winner.

Sharapova, who never gave up more than two points in her eight service games, held, then broke Davenport for the fifth time when the American netted a forehand on Sharapova's second match point.

Sharapova, who lost last year's final to Serena Williams, finished with 26 winners to just 12 unforced errors.