Maria Sharapova continues sweeping their way through the Australia Open and qualified for the knockout stage after beating Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-1, 6-2, while Czech Petra Kvitova benefited from the withdrawal through injury of Maria Kirilenko.

Sharapova, seeded fourth, is showcasing a massive forcefulness on the track. If before this match had yielded only two games in the first two rounds, this Saturday only allowed his rival snatch three.

The Russian said after the game that “I have been aggressive enough. It gave her a chance to play as I wanted, but in the second set was a little more battle because he played with more confidence.”

Petra Kvitova, second favorite, benefited from the injury to the Russian Kirilenko, who retired at the beginning of the second set, after failing to score a single game in the match (6-0 and 1-0). The Czech player will have a difficult second-round knockout at the world exnúmero one Ana Ivanovic, who is offering a very good level of play in Melbourne.