Sharapova loses one game, needs 51 minutes to advance

Updated: August 30, 2007, 10:42 PM ET

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NEW YORK -- Defending champion Maria Sharapova overwhlmed 90th-ranked Casey Dellacqua of Australia 6-1, 6-0 in a mere 51 minutes to advance to the third round of the U.S. Open on Thursday.

"I think she'll most definitely go all the way," Dellacqua said.

The second-seeded Sharapova had already won seven of the first eight games when she disagreed with an official's ruling and argued a bit with the chair umpire. The defending champion's dad was even more agitated in the stands, holding an animated conversation with her agent, who shook his head and covered his face with his hand.

"It's only going to get tougher from here," Sharapova said, "so I'm looking forward to the challenge."

One of her second serves showed up at 129 mph, which would tie Venus Williams' Grand Slam record -- but the company that oversees the serve-speed system at the U.S. Open called it a glitch.

"It was definitely a mistake, because, one, I've never hit a 129 in my life, let alone a second serve, and, two, it definitely didn't feel like a 129," she said. "So definitely wishful thinking."

Martina Hingis and Svetlana Kuznetsova also both played their way into the third round of the U.S. Open on Thursday.

After Hingis and 106th-ranked Pauline Parmentier of France traded six straight service breaks, the 1997 Open champion closed out the match 6-2, 7-5.

Parmentier was two points from evening the match when Hingis held serve to tie it at 5-all. With temperatures in the upper 80s, the 16th-seeded Swiss star swiftly took control.

"I didn't want to play a third set in this heat," Hingis said.

The fourth-seeded Kuznetsova didn't dally in beating Camille Pin of France 6-3, 4-6, 6-0. The former Open champion seemed especially determined after missing an easy forehand that lost the second set.

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"It was too late to change anything," Kuznetsova said. "From this moment, I just started to turn it on."

Trying to finish off each rally in a hurry, Kuznetsova took every opportunity to rush the net -- she approached more than she could ever remember. She smacked 46 winners in all, enough to overcome 34 unforced errors.

"I'm pretty happy to come a lot to the net," she said. "I had so many chances to come in and sometimes I saw I didn't do that."

The day's loudest shot might very well have come from No. 13 Nicole Vaidisova during her match against Flavia Pennetta. After getting broken while serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set, Vaidisova slammed her racket head so forcefully it folded in half. Then she went out and served a shutout in the tiebreak to win 6-2, 7-6 (0).

Did she feel bad for the racket?

"It deserved it," Vaidisova said.

Bethanie Mattek once again wore the loudest outfit. In a 6-2, 6-1 loss to No. 18 Shahar Peer of Israel, Mattek had a silver version that semi-resembled her gold Wonder Woman-inspired ensemble in the first round.

Agnes Szavay took another positive step after last week's bitter disappointment by beating Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands 7-6, 6-3 to reach the third round.

Szavay retired from the New Haven final against Kuznetsova with a back injury after winning the first set, but the 18-year-old Hungarian renewed her summer charge by going a step further than she has ever been in a Grand Slam.

"I had problems with my back, it was really tight and painful from a lot of matches," Szavay said of her lost opportunity in New Haven. "But it's much better. Every day it's getting better."

Szavay reached the second round at Roland Garros and at Wimbledon this year in her two previous Grand Slams.

Szavay said it was strange to play against her former doubles partner Krajicek.

"We have a good relationship," Szavay said. "She's a really nice girl. It was strange to play against each other. The last time was in juniors, but I'm really happy."

Szavay, who won her first WTA Tour title this summer in Palermo, has rocketed up the rankings to No. 31 after ending the 2006 season ranked 207th.

The blonde from Budapest began to put her game together after taking a few months off from tennis after being diagnosed with mononucleosis.

"I started to play last September after my sickness and since then I'm improving," she said. "I didn't know I had it [mononucleosis], so I was playing with it for half a year. I always lost and I was always sick and tired and we didn't know the reason. It was April when I found it out."

Szavay next faces seventh seed Nadia Petrova, who beat Anastasia Rodionova 7-5, 6-1.

In other action, No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze beat Nicole Pratt 6-3, 6-4; No. 11 Patty Schnyder stopped Severine Bremond 6-3, 6-0; Tamira Paszek upset No. 24 Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 7-5; No. 26 Sania Mirza defeated Laura Granville 6-3, 7-5; No. 31 Anabel Medina Garriques beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-5, 6-2; Julia Vakulenko defeated Jelena Kostanic Tosic 6-2, 6-1; and Victoria Azarenka beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-2.