Maria Sharapova vs. Shuai Peng: Score, Reaction from 2015 Australian Open

Maria Sharapova wasted little time dispatching Shuai Peng in the fourth round at the 2015 Australian Open. The 2008 champion rolled to a straight-set victory, 6-3, 6-0, on Sunday at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia.

Sharapova entered the round of 16 looking very strong. Although she had a bit of a tough time against Alexandra Panova in the second round, she bounced back quickly with a 6-1, 6-1 win over 31st-seeded Zarina Diyas in the third round.

"I think I rebounded really well," the 27-year-old said on her third-round performance, per ESPN.com's Jim Caple. "I had a good hit yesterday. I just kind of thought a little bit about what I wanted to try to achieve tonight no matter who I played. Of course, I focused a little bit on myself more than anything else."

Although Sharapova can be heartened by this win as well, she wasn't met with a lot of resistance.

Peng had an opportunity to potentially steal the first set. After she dropped serve to gift Sharapova a 4-2 set lead, the 29-year-old responded with a service break of her own, clawing back to within a game of Sharapova and a chance on serve to tie the set. Per ESPNTennis:

"

Sharapova earns a break, then gives it right back with a double fault to end a long game. Peng to serve at 3-4 in the first set on ESPN2.

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) January 25, 2015"

However, Sharapova broke Peng's serve for the second time before holding in the ninth game and securing a 1-0 set lead. She needed all of 39 minutes to gain that advantage, per ByTheMin Tennis:

That eighth game was essentially Peng's last stand, and it was all downhill from there.

Sharapova wasn't quite playing at her peak efficiency, but she was dictating the pace of the match and doing well to get inside the baseline. David Law of BBC 5 Live and BT Sport made the point that Sharapova is so adept at teeing off on shots in the middle of the court:

Peng really struggled on second serve. She often left the serve right in the middle of the service box, which allowed Sharapova to go right on the offensive. The problem was particularly acute given Peng only completed 12 of her 21 first serves in the second set. On her nine second-service points, she lost six times.

Contrast that to Sharapova, who was even worse on first serve (16-of-33) but managed to win 11 of her 17 second-service points.

Whatever confidence Peng still had after dropping the first set, it all but evaporated shortly into the second. As Andrew Jerell Jones noted, Peng looked completely unsure of herself and resigned to her fate after only about two or three games:

"

Wheels falling off of Peng with all that strapping & still glimpses of non-belief in her,just giving Sharapova more of an easy path to Genie

— Andrew Jerell Jones (@sluggahjells) January 25, 2015"

In total, Peng had 29 unforced errors—which was nearly twice the total of Sharapova—and lost 19 of her second-service points.

Sharapova will meet Eugenie Bouchard in the quarterfinals. The two have met on three different occasions, with Sharapova winning all three. Bouchard has looked pretty good so far in Melbourne, though, and sooner or later, you'd expect her to get the better of Sharapova.

The Russian star will definitely have to up her game in the next round. Getting in only 45 percent of your first serves won't work against a player as talented as Bouchard.

Note: Stats are courtesy of AusOpen.com.