Maria Sharapova has put a small fortune into her sweet making business but she might consider a sideline in baked treats after serving up fellow Russian Olga Puchkova a double-bagel to cruise into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday.
Sharapova’s 6-0 6-0 demolition of the hapless Puchkova at the Rod Laver Arena completed a ‘bagel slam’, having left opponents scoreless at the French Open, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows.
The second seeded Russian launched her premium-priced range of “Sugarpova” lollies in Melbourne on Friday, bringing her fledgling business Down Under after successfully introducing it to the United States.
But there was precious little sweetness on display on centre court as Sharapova crushed the 107th-ranked Puchkova in 55 minutes to stay on track for a mouth-watering third round clash with Venus Williams.
“I didn’t want to focus on the fact I hadn’t played a lot of matches,” Sharapova, the 2008 champion, told reporters.
“(I) just wanted to focus on just what was ahead of me and really concentrate and, you know, be aggressive.
“So it was just one of those matches where I didn’t try to worry about her too much. I just tried to, you know, think about what I had to do.”
After saving two break-points in the opening game, Sharapova needed to do precious little thinking, with her opponent committing 19 unforced errors, including one to bring up three match points.
