You can’t bet against this Maria!

It was billed as the Match of the Week. Unfortunately, despite the spicy build-up and the hype, second seed Maria Sharapova and twenty fifth seed Venus Williams’ much anticipated third round duel on the hallowed Rod Laver Arena ended in a whimper with Maria breezing through 6-1, 6-3.

But what the match underlined was the fact that the 2008 Australian Open champion and last year’s runner-up was in no mood to relent. Sharapova, as scorching as the Melbourne heat, was determined right from the beginning, wearing an intrepid look on her face and strutting with a confident body language. Four-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova was here to deliver a strong message. And why not when she had a lot at stake? She had never been able to get the better of the elder Williams, a holder of seven major titles, in any Grand Slam match and Venus had prevailed in their last hardcourt meeting which was in Stanford way back in 2009.

A lot had happened since then. Sharapova had taken babysteps back to her once familiar world of tennis glory and stardom following her shoulder surgery. She had reached the pinnacle once again and achieved the unthinkable – the self-proclaimed “cow on ice” conquered Paris and completed her Career Slam.

Venus’ career followed a distinctly different path. Ravaged by a slew of injuries and the revelation that she was suffering from the debilitating auto-immune disease, Sjögren’s syndrome, 2011 saw her fall out of the top 100 for the first time since 1997. A fighter that she is, she resolved to never give up, putting aside all talks of a probable retirement. Partnering Serena to a third Olympic gold in doubles in 2012, she won her first tournament in Luxembourg and clawed her way back to the top 30.

Maria Sharapova had known all this and knew Venus could be a tigress waiting to pounce, if she didn’t pull the trigger soon enough. Both have had intense battles in the past, each showing off her ferocity and belligerence. But on Friday, it was dominance of the truest level from the second seed – pure and ruthless, ceaseless and unforgiving – far removed from the Russian’s Sugarpova image.

Maria blasted on all cylinders, eager to continue with her own immaculate streak of not dropping a single game in this tournament. And so it was! Breaking Venus, she inched ahead, throwing in some scintillating forehand crosscourts, which Venus could only stare at.

Even when her first serve had dropped to a horrendous 13 per cent after the first three games, she backed it up with absolute scorcher of returns. And that was what set the tone for the rest of the match. Maria totally dictated the play from the back of the court with her return game which was smooth and almost flawless.

And the footwork and movement too obeyed the Russian. It all seemed so easy! The down-the-line backhands just landing in, the forehand and backhand crosscourts just kissing the lines – Maria was 4-0 and 28-0 in this tournament before spectators could even settle themselves.

Venus, on the other hand, seemed a tad slow with the timing of her returns. When she could finally bring in punch to her serve, every third return she would dump into the net. The 32-year-old’s movement was suspect and the Russian exploited it perfectly. At 0-4, the American would win her first game of the match and not a single more in the first set.

Maria would continue being the imperious and unstoppable Masha, never allowing Venus to even move in. At 3-0 up in the second set, Maria produced a stunner of a down-the-line forehand that left everybody awestruck.

Venus would finally start hitting the ball flat and clean at this stage, and that got herself on the board in the second set. Serving at 3-1, Maria suddenly got herself in a real jam with her service missing the lines and Venus returning error-free but her belief helped her climb out of that.

There was a blip while serving for the match with Venus’s vicious angled backhands creating the damage but that didn’t last long. Allowing Venus to climb back as far as 5-3, Maria had to shut it out and she did it in style – with a thundering ace.

This was a blockbuster Maria was prepared to direct by herself. And boy was she well prepared!

It all showed when she let out that roaring yell at the end of the match. She wanted it badly and she has done it!

Perhaps she wants the 2013 Australian Open just this much!