If Maria Sharapova has ever wondered what it would be like to play a match against herself on top form, she knows now. On Thursday, she met Ana Ivanovic, a player who does what Sharapova has done for years. Only she does it better.

The serve is powerful and from a great height. It is relentlessly accurate. The return is deep, right to her opponent’s feet, and the forehand sweeps down the line.

In her prime Sharapova would dismiss an inexperienced opponent with all these qualities. But on Thursday she was a pastiche of her former self.

In her three biggest matches this year, Sharapova has fallen to pieces, winning just eight games in all three contests put together.

At the Australian Open, Serena Williams beat her 6-1, 6-2. In Miami, the same opponent beat her 6-1, 6-1 and here the young Serbian was victorious 6-2, 6-1, in just one hour and five minutes.

Something is not right. It is no shame to lose to such an accomplished player, for Ivanovic is surely a Grand Slam winner in waiting, but to be unable to compete is verging on the bizarre. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH