Sharapova serves her way into second round

Third seed Maria Sharapova used a dominant serve and laser-like groundstrokes to crush Dutch teenager Michaella Krajicek 6-3 6-0 and advance to the second round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday.

Sharapova, donning a sparkling black playing outfit, fired 10 aces and was successful on 82 percent of her first serves to defeat Krajicek in 59 minutes.

"I actually didn't think I was hitting my serve big but I was placing it really well," said Sharapova. "That's a big key for me, coming up to the line and knowing I can place it.

"That was probably one of the best service displays I've had in my career."

The 17-year-old Krajicek lost her serve to open the match and then hung in with Sharapova until getting broken again in the ninth game to lose the set.

Sharapova, who moved well following a two-week layoff, said it was just a matter of time before she figured out Krajicek's serve and took control of the match.



"At the beginning, I just couldn't quite figure out her motion," she said. "She had missed the first serve, and I would try to put some pressure on her second.

"But she came out with some second serves that were probably 95 miles per hour, which were pretty tough to attack.

"But I figured out I need to stand back a little bit more, maybe make her hit a ball, whereas before I was just making the error on the return."

Krajicek, making her Open debut, hit four double faults and just one ace in the match. In the second set, Sharapova had three service breaks on Krajicek, who did not play poorly but could not match up with her power-hitting opponent.

"The second set I definitely felt like there were longer points and I found my rhythm a little bit better," said Sharapova.



Sharapova, whose best finish at the Open was 2005 when she lost in the semi-finals to eventual champion Kim Clijsters, will next face Frenchwoman Emilie Loit.