Maria Sharapova too good for Zarina Diyas in the third round

Maria Sharapova has marched into the fourth round of the Australian Open, having defeated youngster Zarina Diyas 6-1 6-1.

The first set saw the rising Kazakh star produce some neat tennis on the serve, but Sharapova made her intentions clear early on with some strong returns to take a 6-1 lead.

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Having broke Diyas again in the second set, Sharapova claimed three straight points without offering anything in the way of an opportunity to her opponent.

Diyas might have hoped to put some doubts into the Russian's mind with things at 4-1 in the second, only to produce some poor work at the net that allowed Sharapova to move into a 5-1 lead following a second break point.

The win was sealed in just over an hour as Sharapova completed her third ace of the game to wrap things up at 6-1 6-1.