Second-seeded Maria Sharapova will square off against 25th-seeded Venus Williams in the third round bout with the most star power. That match will begin at 7am EST on Friday.
Sharapova has won each Grand Slam tournament once, most recently the 2012 French Open to complete the career slam. The Russian won the Australian Open in 2008, the third of her four wins on the biggest stages. Sharapova also won the silver medal in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, with Serena Williams taking the gold.
Sharapova has split two Grand Slam finals with Williams, including her first Grand Slam win at Wimbledon in 2004 (at age 17), but she has never faced Venus Williams in a Slam final. Sharapova is the first player in 28 years to not lose a single game in the first two rounds of a Grand Slam tournament. She defeated Olga Puchkova 6-0, 6-0 in round one on Monday and topped Misaki Doi by the same score in round two on Wednesday.
Venus Williams has five Wimbledon titles and two from the U.S. Open, but has never won an Australian or French Open championship. She reached the finals for each of those two grand slams once: the French in 2002 and the Australian in 2003. Each time, Serena Williams beat Venus to claim the crown.
Venus Williams defeated Galina Voskoboeva in the first round 6-1, 6-0 before beating Alize Cornet in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
You can watch the official Australian Open live stream here.
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