Australian Open: Lethal Sharapova dethrones Wozniacki to reach pre-quarters

Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova stunned defending champion Caroline Wozniacki in the third round of the ongoing Australian open to enter the pre-quarters round of the women's singles event here at the Rod Laver Arena on Friday.

The 31-year-old defeated Wozniacki 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in a gruelling contest that lasted two hours and 24 minutes.

The initial period of the match was dominated by Wozniacki who moved ahead with a 4-1 lead in the opening set. Sharapova, who was positioned perfectly to lose the opening set, made a stunning comeback and won the next five games with the help of 16 winners to register an extraordinary victory.

In the second set, the Polish player astonished Sharapova into 19 unforced errors to take a 3-0 lead. Wozniacki continued with the lead till the end of the second set and took the match into a decider.

Both the players battled hard in the final set and had their chances to move ahead. The defending champion came hard on her opponent but failed to shake her resilience. With Russian taking a 5-3 lead, the task seemed difficult for Wozniacki to make a comeback.

Sharapova failed to capitalise on the first match point but did not miss the second chance and went on to register a thumping victory over Wozniacki.

Next, Sharapova will be crossing swords with Ashleigh Barty of Australia to make it to the quarter-round of the tournament.