By Adrianna Outlaw
© Mark Peterson/Corleve

(January 23, 2011) Andrea Petkovic brought another dose of dance fever to the Australian Open court and Maria Sharapova had no remedy. Petkovic pounded out a 6-2, 6-3 thrashing of a sloppy Sharapova to advance to her first major quarterfinal.

The entertaining German celebrated with her signature dance move, shaking her hips and swiveling her arms while wearing the wide smile of a winner after the match.

"It's probably the best match I played on such a big stage," Petkovic said. "I tried to mix it up a little bit. Normally my game is to play very flat and aggressively, but I tried to give it some spin on the forehand and play some slice and mix up my serve. I tried to keep up the percentage of my first serve and tried to return very aggressively. I think I played very well tactically‑wise."

The 30th-seeded German delivered 13 winners against only nine unforced errors while Sharapova produced 16 winners against 30 unforced errors.

The three-time Grand Slam champion is not nearly as quick around the court as Petkovic and Sharapova often found herself lunging at air in trying to catch-up to another Petkovic shot that eluded her. In the end, a frustrated Sharapova joined former World No. 1 players Venus Williams, Dinara Safina, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Justine Henin in departing the draw.



"There are many things that didn't work today," Sharapova said. "I didn't get my first breakpoint until it was a set and 5‑1. That's not the type of tennis I want to be playing, especially on the return. I mean, I didn't put any pressure on her serve whatsoever. I wasn't up Love‑30 or anything on her service games. That's not the way to play a match."

Petkovic's patented celebratory dance move was born off Broadway at the 2010 U.S. Open.

"It started off as a bet with my coach," said Petkovic. "He had an idea after I played a terrible summer season in the U.S. and I got Nadia Petrova in the first round of the US Open, which was a tough draw for me back then. So he said, 'If you win, you have to do something special because it's a special match for us.' I won 7‑6 in the third, so I got the inspiration of doing a dance, and ever since it's there. I'm very superstitious, so since I'm doing the dance I'm playing much better. I try to keep it up: the playing better and the dance."

Will she dance her way into the semifinals? Petkovic will face 2010 semifinalist Li Na for a spot in the final four against either World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki or French Open champion Franseca Schiavone.