Venus Williams made Maria Sharapova lose her first games at this year’s Australian Open but that was too little to stop the second-seed Russian in the third-round clash on Friday.

Sharapova breezed past the seven-time Grand Slam winner in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 to hand Williams her heaviest defeat at a Grand Slam tournament for 12 years.

“I was really excited to play Venus again. She’s a great athlete and a great champion,” Sharapova said in an interview shortly after the match. “I was just really determined out there and I really wanted this victory.”

Sharapova dominated in all aspects of play winning 56 percent of points on her opponent’s serve and finished the contest stylishly with an ace.

Maria will next play Kirsten Flipkens having won all her previous matches against the Belgian, who beat Russian qualifier Valeria Savinykh 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the third round.

Earlier, 4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, 5th seed Angelique Kerber, 6th seed Li Na and 13th seed Ana Ivanovic all booked spots in the fourth round.

There was also a surprise as last year’s Australian Open quarterfinalist Ekaterina Makarova of Russia ousted 11th seed Marion Bartoli of France to set a last 16 encounter with Kerber.

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