MELBOURNE, Australia — Fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova won the first eight games and beat Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-0, 6-1 Tuesday to advance to the second round of the Australian Open.
Sharapova, the 2008 Australian Open winner and a finalist the previous year, needed just 58 minutes for the win. Dulko’s only game win came on a Sharapova service break. Sharapova fended off three breakpoints in the last game as she served out the match.
The win was Sharapova’s third in four meetings against Dulko. The last time the pair met — at Wimbledon in 2009 — Dulko beat Sharapova in three sets in the second round.
