Dominant world number one and defending champion Serena Williams powered into the Australian Open third round Wednesday with a straight-sets demolition of Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei. The six-time Melbourne Park winner, who is gunning to equal Steffi Graf's Open-era record of 22 Grand Slam titles, blitzed Hsieh 6-1, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.
She next faces either Russian Daria Kasatkina with a potential quarter-final clash against arch-rival Maria Sharapova awaiting. “She was definitely a tricky opponent but it was a good match for me to play someone like that. I needed that,” said Williams, who made her Grand Slam debut in Melbourne in 1998.
“It all started here for me, that is where I played my first match in a Grand Slam, on this court, and I'm still going. It's an honour.”
Women
2nd round:
Serena Williams (USA x1) bt Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) 6-1, 6-2
Darya Kasatkina (RUS) bt Ana Konjuh (CRO) 6-4, 6-3
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) bt Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x23) 6-1, 7-5
Lauren Davis (USA) bt Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 7-6 (9/7) abandon
Maria Sharapova (RUS x5) bt Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) 6-2, 6-1
Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) bt Wang Qiang (CHN) 6-3, 6-4
Roberta Vinci (ITA x13) bt Irina Falconi (USA) 6-2, 6-3
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