Click here for a recap of Sharapova's serving woes.

By Kamakshi Tandon

“It was one of those days when she played great tennis and I wasn’t there,” said Maria Sharapova. She was talking about her match against Serena Williams in the final of the Australian Open this January, but it could just as easily have applied to her 6-1, 6-1 loss in the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Sharapova’s serve wasn’t there either, which has become a common occurrence for the Russian who could once consider it one of her major strengths. She has been reluctant to acknowledge the problem in recent matches, but did admit that she was “maybe a little bit tentative” when she missed her first delivery on Tuesday.

“I think I pushed a little bit too much on it,” she said. “I guess when you feel that you need to hold serve against someone like her and someone that's serving so well, I think that puts a little bit of extra pressure on your serve.”

The match was close for the first couple of games and then Williams took control, feasting on Sharapova’s increasingly hesitant serving and not facing a single break point herself.

The easy win further underlined Williams’ return to the top of the women’s game, which she last signaled by defeating Sharapova 6-1, 6-2 in Melbourne. “I think a lot of people might have thought it was a one off.  I don't know anyone who's won eight Grand Slams and had so many doubters in their lies. I guess just me,” said Williams.

She had few doubts herself, however. “I mean, I expect nothing less,” she said.

Williams said she had been able to put a heckling incident during her last match out of her mind. A spectator in the stands had shouted taunts and, Williams said, at least one racist remark during her third-round match against Lucie Safarova. He was removed from the grounds.

Though Williams was not as flawless during her performance on Tuesday as she was in Melbourne, she looked fitter and posted an even more lopsided scoreline. It would certainly have been more useful than the bizarre advice father Richard Williams claimed he had given his daughter at the end of the first set, a discussion allowed as part of the WTA’s ongoing experiment with on-court coaching – he said he told her to try to hit to her opponent’s strength as preparation for her next match.

“I feel like I'm running better. I'm moving a lot better,” she said. “I'm still trying to work my way up into the clay court season, which will be next week. You have to be extremely fit to play on the clay.”

She’ll have further opportunity to compare her current form with her form in Melbourne when she faces Australian Open semifinal opponent Nicole Vaidisova in the next round. Following that could be a meeting with Shahar Peer, who nearly took out Williams in the quarterfinals at Melbourne.

For Sharapova, meanwhile, a return to the practice court beckons. She looked impatient with her temporary coach Eric Basica as he suggested serving options during the break at the end of the first set, but found few answers herself.

Eight double faults against Williams brought her count for the tournament to 29 in three matches. In her previous two events at Toyko and Indian Wells, she served 35 and 27 in three matches, respectively.

Though that makes Tuesday sound like a relatively good day, the caliber of Williams’ returning meant Sharapova was effectively taken out of the contest. She served two double faults in each of second and third service games in the second set, and with her second serve dwindling, Williams had little trouble either hitting a winner or gaining the upper hand right away.

“Against her you need to be the first person that strikes a good ball, and whoever gets the advantage in the first half of the point is going to win the point,” said Sharapova.