Tennis:Maria Sharapova will not be 21 until April, but there were already growing fears last year, voiced by mentor Nick Bollettieri, that her body might not be able to stand up to the stresses and strains of the modern game.
After being pulverised in the final here last year by Serena Williams, Sharapova suffered from persistent shoulder problems that badly affected her serve, and she lost early at Wimbledon and again at the US Open, where she was the defending champion.
These are early days, but now she appears back on track.
"Everybody had told me her serve had gotten worse but I never managed a break point," said Lindsay Davenport.
Sharapova won the much anticipated second-round match against the comeback mum 6-1, 6-3, reproducing her late form in 2007 when the US-based Russian reached the final of the end-of-season championships in Madrid.
"It's great to be able to serve without worrying about my shoulder any more. Ever since it got better I have been able to spend more time on the court and the more time I spend playing matches the better."
Cynics may suggest this flies in the face of the current women's ethos, with the top players playing fewer and fewer tournaments, but Sharapova's injury problems did at least allow her to do those little things that every modern young woman loves to do.
"I spent a little more money on both of my houses. I'm really into modern art."
Davenport, unseeded but having lost only one match out of 15 since she began her comeback - from maternity to here - in September last year, might have wished to have played anybody other than Sharapova of the top players, with the Russian having won four of their previous five meetings.
It was immediately apparent that however hard the 31-year-old Californian tried to hit the ball, it would come back with increased velocity, and the first set was over in under half an hour. Thereafter the good ship Davenport steadied itself a little, but she was irreparably holed.
Variety is not a word that readily springs to mind when considering Sharapova's game but she always had that bit more to offer than Davenport.
Sharapova enjoyed the little extra frisson. So many of the women's matches during the opening week are routine for the top seeds, but as soon as the draw was made everybody had singled out this match.
"I liked the build-up, the showtime," she said. "You don't often get second-round matches involving two grand slam champions and two former world number ones. I love going into a situation where I have a challenge and I have to find a way to win. Being in front of 15,000 people at a night match is what you play for."
In truth the match never lived up to its billing, with Sharapova as chillingly unstoppable as the cold wind swirling around the Rod Laver stadium. The weather had prompted her father and coach, Yuri, to don a hoodie which, combined with his dark glasses, made him appear more sinister than normal. "I told him he looked like an assassin with that jacket on. He has a cold, so he told me he had to put it on."
In other second-round action today, defending champion Serena Williams overcame a poor serve to record a 6-3 6-1 win over China's Meng Yuan, while world number one Justine Henin and 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo also advanced.
Henin, eyeing her second Australian Open crown, beat Russia's Olga Poutchkova 6-1 7-5 and will now meet Italy's Francesca Schiavone, who overcame German Angelique Kerber 6-2 6-3.
Mauresmo, the number 18 seed following her injury-riddled 2007, needed 10 match points before finally subduing Russian Yaroslav Shvedova 6-4 7-6 (7/5).
There were also a raft of upsets today. French 13th seed Tatiana Golovin was dumped out by compatriot Aravane Rezai, while 15th-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland is also on her way home after losing to Australia's Casey Dellacqua.
