Contented Sharapova enjoys Wimbledon

Maria Sharapova moved into the fourth round of Wimbledon with a 6-2 6-3 win over Klara Zakopalova that was tougher than the scoreline suggested.

An imperious first-set display by the 2004 champion underlined why many regard her as the favourite to lift the Venus Rosewater dish again this year.

But Sharapova briefly lost her way in the second before recovering strongly.

Sixth seed Francesca Schiavone did not fare so well, tumbling to Austria's Tamira Paszek 3-6 6-4 11-9.

In a match carried over from yesterday, the tenacious Italian fought back from a break down in the final set.

But the 20-year-old Paszek, ranked 80 in the world, edged the proverbial battle of nerves to book a fourth-round appointment with Russia's Ksenia Pervak after three hours and 41 minutes.

There were no such problems for top seed Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia 6-3 6-2. She will now face Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova, the 24th seed, who beat Julia Goerges 6-4 1-6 6-3.

Sharapova, meanwhile, will play 20th seed Shuai Peng of China, who beat Melinda Czink 6-2 7-6.

It's been really nice because when he moved to Jersey, we didn't get to see each other that much," Sharapova said, flashing her engagement ring, at the post-match news conference.

"This trip has kind of made up for it. You get to know a lot about the person by being with them every single day, which we hadn't really had in our whole relationship.

"So it's been really nice. We both enjoyed it. But we've obviously been at tournaments. It's been very hard. We're competitive, so we're doing everything in order for me to win tennis matches."

The giant Vujacic fidgeted on the edge of his seat at key points and burst into applause each time Sharapova pummelled one of her mighty groundstrokes past her opponent.

Sharapova has sat through countless NBA games and admits they can be tough to watch.

"There's no doubt that I've watched more basketball in the last couple of years than I have in all of my life," Sharapova said.

"I am a lot more nervous in those games that I've watched than I have been in my life.

"I think it's a lot easier to play. I've learned it's a lot tougher to be on the sidelines.

"It's a different sport because it's a team sport. But at the end of the day we're still athletes and we still have to put that amount of work in. There is that level of understanding of what it takes."