Maria pacing herself

Maria Sharapova on Sunday set an Australian Open record by reaching the quarterfinals for the loss of only five games, but she insisted she was pacing herself in the hunt for another major title.

The Russian second seed thumped Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 6-0 to set a new Open era mark over the first four matches, outstripping the previous record of eight held by Monica Seles (1991 and 1993) and Steffi Graf (1989).

Sharapova came close to matching the all-Grand Slam record of Mary Pierce, who dropped only four games en route to the 1994 French Open quarterfinals.