<p>Top seed Maria Sharapova began her 2015 campaign in ruthless fashion as she brushed aside Yaroslava Shvedova 6-0, 6-1 in the second round of the Brisbane International Tuesday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Sharapova dominated her opponent in every department as she raced through the first set in just 23 minutes.<br /><br />Shvedova, a qualifier from Kazakhstan, offered more resistance in the second but was no match for the world number two.<br /><br />Sharapova had not played a competitive match since the WTA Finals in October. But there were no signs of rust as she cruised into the quarter-finals.<br /><br />"It certainly felt good to start (well) after not playing a match for a couple of months," Sharapova said.<br /><br />"Despite all the training, it's such a different feeling to go out on the court and play in front of a crowd in an actual match atmosphere.<br /><br />"I wanted to start off sharp and try to do the right things."<br /><br />Sharapova broke her opponent five times throughout the match, but had to save two break points on her own serve in the second set.<br /><br />She said this was important in stopping any chance of a Shvedova comeback.<br /><br />"She lost the first set in her previous match (against Sabine Lisicki) 6-0 and ended up winning the match in a tough three-set battle, so you never know," Sharapova said.<br /><br />"There were moments where I saved a few important break points, which was crucial. That gave me good confidence towards the end of that second set."<br /><br />Sharapova will now play the winner of the clash between seventh seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain and Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.<br /><br />Earlier, third-seeded German Angelique Kerber remained on course for a semi-final showdown against Sharapova when she crushed Russian qualifier Daria Gavrilova in straight sets.<br /><br />Kerber needed just 90 minutes to see off Brisbane-based Gavrilova 6-3, 7-5.<br /><br />"I think it's good to be now in the quarters and have a lot of matches before Melbourne," Kerber said.<br /><br />"I think that was my goal, and right now it looks good."<br /><br />She will now take on Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic.<br /><br />Defending men's champion Lleyton Hewitt suffered a shock loss at the hands of big-serving fellow Australian Sam Groth.<br /><br />Groth blasted 14 aces and won 89 percent of his first serves to overpower Hewitt 6-3, 6-2 in just 58 minutes.<br /><br />Fifth seed Kevin Anderson was another casualty in the men's draw, with the South African falling to Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.<br /><br />Seventh seed Alexandr Dolgopolov, a finalist in Brisbane in 2012, cruised into the second round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Argentina's Carlos Berlocq.</p>
<p>Top seed Maria Sharapova began her 2015 campaign in ruthless fashion as she brushed aside Yaroslava Shvedova 6-0, 6-1 in the second round of the Brisbane International Tuesday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Sharapova dominated her opponent in every department as she raced through the first set in just 23 minutes.<br /><br />Shvedova, a qualifier from Kazakhstan, offered more resistance in the second but was no match for the world number two.<br /><br />Sharapova had not played a competitive match since the WTA Finals in October. But there were no signs of rust as she cruised into the quarter-finals.<br /><br />"It certainly felt good to start (well) after not playing a match for a couple of months," Sharapova said.<br /><br />"Despite all the training, it's such a different feeling to go out on the court and play in front of a crowd in an actual match atmosphere.<br /><br />"I wanted to start off sharp and try to do the right things."<br /><br />Sharapova broke her opponent five times throughout the match, but had to save two break points on her own serve in the second set.<br /><br />She said this was important in stopping any chance of a Shvedova comeback.<br /><br />"She lost the first set in her previous match (against Sabine Lisicki) 6-0 and ended up winning the match in a tough three-set battle, so you never know," Sharapova said.<br /><br />"There were moments where I saved a few important break points, which was crucial. That gave me good confidence towards the end of that second set."<br /><br />Sharapova will now play the winner of the clash between seventh seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain and Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.<br /><br />Earlier, third-seeded German Angelique Kerber remained on course for a semi-final showdown against Sharapova when she crushed Russian qualifier Daria Gavrilova in straight sets.<br /><br />Kerber needed just 90 minutes to see off Brisbane-based Gavrilova 6-3, 7-5.<br /><br />"I think it's good to be now in the quarters and have a lot of matches before Melbourne," Kerber said.<br /><br />"I think that was my goal, and right now it looks good."<br /><br />She will now take on Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic.<br /><br />Defending men's champion Lleyton Hewitt suffered a shock loss at the hands of big-serving fellow Australian Sam Groth.<br /><br />Groth blasted 14 aces and won 89 percent of his first serves to overpower Hewitt 6-3, 6-2 in just 58 minutes.<br /><br />Fifth seed Kevin Anderson was another casualty in the men's draw, with the South African falling to Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.<br /><br />Seventh seed Alexandr Dolgopolov, a finalist in Brisbane in 2012, cruised into the second round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Argentina's Carlos Berlocq.</p>