Sharapova, Federer survive foes; Huey also advances

MELBOURNE, Australia—Twice Maria Sharapova faced match point on Wednesday, and twice she let rip with a forehand winner to keep her Australian Open chances alive.

The No. 2-ranked Sharapova had a narrow escape with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 second-round win over fellow Russian Alexandra Panova, a qualifier ranked No. 150.

Roger Federer dropped the first set, and asked for medical advice on his sore right pinkie finger, before beating Simone Bolelli, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the third round.

The No. 2 seeds didn’t get it entirely their way on day three.

Sharapova made 51 unforced errors as she went for the lines, but kept swinging hard and saved some of her best ground strokes for when she needed them.

She faced match point twice in the 10th game of the third set, stepping into a return winner on a weak second serve and later ripping a forehand winner deep into the corner against Panova, who entered the Australian Open without a single match win at five previous majors.

“I’m just happy to get through—I was one point away twice today from being out of the tournament,” said Sharapova.

Federer was bothered by pain in his right hand, and took a medical timeout after the first set, before recovering to beat No. 48 Bolelli.

“It felt like a bee stung me. I was like `This can’t be possible—I never had this pain before.’ It was disturbing me,” Federer, a four-time Australian Open champion, said.

Meanwhile, Filipino tennis star Treat Huey and new partner Jonathan Erlich of Israel got through the second round of the men’s doubles yesterday with a hard-earned win over Dusan Lajovic of Serbia and Lu Yen-hsun of Chinese Taipei.

The 29-year-old Huey had no problem working with the 37-year-old Erlich as they stopped Lajovic and Lu, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3, after one hour and 48 minutes of action at Court 20.

Huey and Erlich dropped more aces, 6-3, and winners, 53-36, as well as converted three of 11 break-point opportunities. AP, Marc Anthony Reyes