Maria Sharapova barely broke sweat on her way to a comfortable victory over former world number one Venus Williams in the third round of the Australian Open.
Williams was expected to give Sharapova a tough examination, after the Russian had won her first two rounds without dropping a single game; however, the American veteran just could not keep up with the French Open champion's ground strokes, as Sharapova cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
Sharapova, the finalist at Melbourne Park last year when she lost to current world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, is expected to provide the stiffest test to favorite Serena Williams, the younger sister of Venus.
The two biggest names of women's tennis are scheduled to meet in the final, with Serena having to negotiate a potential matchup with Azarenka in the semi-finals.
In other matches, American Kevin Anderson upset No. 22 seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain in a gruelling five-setter 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, -6 (4), 6-2, while Janko Tipsarevic, seeded eight, battled past Julien Benneteau 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Djokovic admitted Radek Stepanek had provided the Serbian his toughest test yet in the tournament so far, despite coming through in straight sets earlier in the third round.
"I wasn't expecting an easy match coming into the third round and playing a seeded player," the world number one told reporters. "Top 30 in the world. Somebody that has a lot of experience playing on the tour.
"He loves the big stage. You saw how much fun he had. I also had a lot of fun playing. It was a very entertaining match.
"As I said on the court, he's very skillful, comes to the net, never gives you the same ball twice. That's something that makes him a different player from most of the guys."
Both players played some big shots during the match, with Djokovic, especially entertaining the crowd with some outrageous shot-making.
"I think both of us, we want to win the match," Djokovic added. Even though we enjoy, there is no exhibition here. You want to win on the court.
"But of course you're enjoying. I mean, we know each other well for many years. As I said, I have respect for him because he's a fighter, he's a competitor, and somebody that, you know, is one of the rare players that comes to the net nowadays and mixes up his style of the game.
"It's nice to see the flat forehand. You know, it's very unusual style of the game for this modern tennis."
