Sharapova eases into fourth round

By Mark Barden & Scarlett Elworthy
BBC Sport at Wimbledon

Latest results

Maria Sharapova reached the fourth round at Wimbledon with a 6-2 6-4 win over Katarina Srebotnik on Court One.

The defending champion set the tone by breaking the unseeded Slovenian's serve three times in the opening set.

The world number 57 broke back for 3-1 and managed to pose more problems for the Russian second seed than she had encountered in her first two matches.

Sharapova's game also had its glitches, and Srebotnik grew in confidence, but the outcome was never in doubt.

Sharapova survived several break points

Sharapova admitted she appreciated being tested after two easy wins.

"I enjoy having these tough situations in the early rounds because you can then handle them better later on," she said.

"I needed to find a way to win every single point today because Katarina has a great grass-court game."

Sharapova next plays Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy, a 6-1 6-4 winner of Alyona Bondarenko of the Ukraine.

The 16th seed broke in games one, five and seven to seal the first set and though Bondarenko broke twice in the second set, Dechy held out.

She now expects a tough test against Sharapova. "She's the defending champion and she's playing really good on grass. But I'm excited about it."

Twelfth seed Mary Pierce eased into the last 16 with a comfortable 6-1 6-4 win over 19th seed Ana Ivanovic on an overcast Court Three.

The Frenchwoman broke her Serbian opponent in the fourth and sixth games and, after squandering two set points in the seventh, served out the set.

Ivanovic battled to get back into the match, but Pierce took control of the second set with a break in the fifth.

The world number 14 then served out the encounter at the first opportunity.

Pierce now faces number 26 seed Flavia Pennetta, who beat Justine Henin-Hardenne's conqueror Eleni Daniilidou 6-4 6-3, of Greece.

She reached the quarter-finals in 1996 and said: "Can I go that far again?

"I don't know. I'm calmer and I'm winning the mind games because most of the time I play girls younger than me.

"There's not really any secrets - hard work pays off. But experience helps and I feel I'm improving with every match."

Russian eighth seed Nadia Petrova made the fourth round with a 6-4 6-3 win over Zimbabwe's Cara Black.

There was little to separate the two, but Petrova won points on 23 of her 31 approaches to the net, while Black was successful on only half of her 22.

Spain's Conchita Martinez, Wimbledon champion in 1994, was knocked out by Czech Kveta Peschke, beaten 6-4 6-1.

Veteran Martinez, 33, had few answers to the all-round game of an opponent 14 years her junior.