THE delayed preparation is working well for Maria Sharapova so far at the Australian Open, where she has reached the third round after just two hours on court.

    The 2008 Australian Open winner had a 6-0, 6-1 second-round win over U.S. qualifier Jamie Hampton in 64 minutes Thursday, two days after beating Argentina’s Gisela Dulko by the same margin.

    Sharapova did not play in any warmup events and spent nearly two weeks in Melbourne ahead of the season’s first major while she rested an injured left ankle.

    She’ll meet either Stephanie Dubois of Canada or 30th-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany in the next round.

    Seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva, a two-time semifinalist at Melbourne Park, had a 6-1, 7-6 (3) over Lucie Hradecka. No. 21 Ana Ivanovic also advanced, beating Dutch player Michaella Krajicek 6-2, 6-3.

    Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki is aiming for her first major tile. After her 6-1, 7-6 (4) second-round win over Anna Tatishvili on Wednesday, Wozniacki is into next round against No. 31 Monica Niculescu. A win could put her on course for a quarterfinal match against Kim Clijsters, who routed Stephanie Foretz Gacon of France 6-0, 6-1.

    On the men’s side, No. 2 Rafael Nadal advanced without much trouble from his injured right knee or from German veteran Tommy Haas in a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win. Four-time champion Roger Federer didn’t even need to pick up a racket because Andreas Beck withdrew from their second-round match.

    The top-ranked American man bowed out when No. 8 Mardy Fish lost to Alejandro Falla of Colombia 7-6 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (6). But No. 16 John Isner survived a five-setter to beat former Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian.

    No. 7 Tomas Berdych, 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and No. 18 Feliciano Lopez all advanced.

    Andy Roddick was scheduled to play the last match Thursday against Lleyton Hewitt in a battle between two former No. 1-ranked players. Defending champion Novak Djokovic has an earlier center court match against Santiago Giraldo. Andy Murray, who has lost the last two Australian Open finals, takes on Edourd Roger-Vasselin. (SD-Agencies)