Sharapova stays sharp in Miami

Key Biscayne, FL – Four-time Miami runner-up Maria Sharapova rolled to a straight-set victory over Elena Vesnina on Sunday in the third round at the Sony Open.

The French Open champion and third-seeded Sharapova, fresh off her big title at Indian Wells, smashed five aces and took advantage of eight double faults from her 29th-seeded compatriot en route to a 6-4, 6-2 victory at Crandon Park.

Next up for the world No. 2 Russian will be 21st-seeded Czech Klara Zakopalova, who outlasted No. 14 seed Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).

Romanian Sorana Cirstea, the 28th seed, upended sixth-seeded German Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-0 to advance to the next round, where she will take on 2008 Sony Open runner-up Jelena Jankovic, who knocked off 11th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.

Twelfth-seeded Ana Ivanovic cruised past 2006 Miami champ Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-3, setting up a match against eighth-seeded Italian Sara Errani, who rolled past Simona Halep 6-1, 6-0 on Sunday.

Fifteenth-seeded Italian Roberta Vinci came back to beat 20th-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Vinci will next face Alize Cornet after the 32nd-seeded Frenchwoman slipped past American lucky loser Lauren Davis 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The winner of this 13-day, $4.196 million tournament will earn $724,000.