Russia's Maria Sharapova celebrates beating Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova in their women's singles second round match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 18, 2018. Pic/AFP

Unseeded Maria Sharapova showed she is a serious contender for this year's Australian Open as she destroyed 14th seed Anastasija Sevastova 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) on Thursday. Against an opponent who had thwarted the Russian's Grand Slam comeback in the last 16 of the US Open last year, Sharapova sped through a scintillating first set in 23 power-packed minutes.