Maria Sharapova was careful not to show any disrespect to the two women she beat 6-0, 6-0 along the way to a third-round match against Venus Williams at the Australian Open.
As rare as it was, she said, an almost flawless start wasn’t entirely what she’d come to Melbourne to achieve.
The No. 2-ranked Sharapova overwhelmed Japan’s Misaki Doi in 47 minutes Wednesday, even less time than she’d needed to beat fellow Russian Olga Puchkova two days earlier in her first competitive match of this year.
No woman had posted back-to-back 6-0, 6-0 wins at a Grand Slam since 1985.
Yet it didn’t excite the 25-year-old Sharapova, who wasn’t even alive when Wendy Turnbull did it at the Australian Open.
“It’s not really the statistic I want to be known for,” Sharapova said in her most matter-of-fact way. “I want to be known for winning Grand Slam titles, not that I won two matches 6-0, 6-0.”