Tennis: Rafael Nadal said he was determined to prove he can win Grand Slams on a surface other than clay after the number two seed cruised into the third round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
The Spaniard brushed aside world number 88 Florent Serra in straight sets 6-0 6-2 6-2 in just 94 minutes on the Rod Laver Arena to put a patchy first-round display against Viktor Troicki firmly behind him.
Nadal will next face another Frenchman in the form of Gilles Simon.
"I have never won a Grand Slam outside of clay," he said. "I'd love to win any one of them. If it's this year, all the better. But I know Roger has gone 15 Grand Slams without losing before the semi-finals, or something like that.
"I saw him playing with confidence (against Diego Hartfield), hitting the ball well and playing very well. Not much different to usual," he said.
Were it not for Federer's continued dominance of the men's game, Nadal would have been ranked number one in the world by now but the Spaniard insisted it would not bother him if he never reached the pinnacle of the sport.
"I'm not frustrated," he added. "I'm very happy to be number two and I would love to be number two for the next hundred years. It's a very good position, especially with my points position. I'm very happy to be here, very happy about my last three seasons, but I will try my best to gain top position this season too."
Nadal was joined in the last 32 by fellow seed Mikhail Youzhny, a four-set winner over Andreas Seppi, while impressive Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the world number 38 who knocked out British hope Andy Murray on the opening day, also progressed.
But there was an early exit for 11th seed Tommy Robredo, who was trounced by last year's quarter-finalist Mardy Fish in straight sets, as well as 26th seed Stanislas Wawrinka, who withdrew when two sets to one down against Frenchman Marc Gicquel.
In the women's singles, world number one Justine Henin is already eyeing a second title after overcoming a second-set scare to reach the third round. The Belgian star survived an hour-long second set to beat Russian Olga Poutchkova 6-1 7-5.
Henin will now meet number 25 seed Francesca Schiavone in the third round after the Italian downed German Angelique Kerber 6-2 6-3.
Fifth seed Maria Sharapova made short work of beating former world number one Lindsay Davenport with a straight-sets 6-1 6-3 victory to cruise into the third round of the Australian Open.
Davenport, who won here in 2000, was playing her first Grand Slam since giving birth last June and her game was littered with unforced errors.
Speed around the court was never a strength of the American even
in her heyday and she looked pedestrian compared to Sharapova, 11
years her junior.
Defending champion Serena Williams comfortably dispatched
Yuan Meng 6-3 6-1. Williams ultimately proved too strong for the
player ranked 121st in the world, who struggled to cope with the
American's strong serve and booming winners.
Jelena Jankovic gave her fans another injury scare before
booking her place in round three. The third seed beat Romania's
Edina Gallovits 6-2 7-5 but had problems with her shoulder en route
to victory.
The Serbian has also been struggling with hamstring and back
problems recently.
The 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo also reached the third round but Swiss number 15 seed Patty Schnyder suffered a shock loss to Australia's Casey Dellacqua. Schnyder blamed the change in court surface at Melbourne Park for her failure to reach the last 16 for the first time since 2002 following her shock 4-6 7-5 8-6 loss to Dellacqua.
There were more surprises later in the day with Aravane Rezai dumped out 13th seed Tatiana Golovin. In an all-French battle, Rezai emerged a 6-3 3-6 6-3 winner. She will now face Su-Wei Hsieh for a place in the last 16, after the Chinese Taipei player also caused an upset by thrashing 19th seed Sybille Bammer 6-2 6-0.
There were contrasting wins for seeded pair Elena Dementieva and Nicole Vaidisova.
Former French and US Open finalist Dementieva (11) fought back from a set down to beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 5-7 6-2 6-3, while Vaidisova (12) ended the hopes of home star Alicia Molik. The Czech teenager did not have to face a break point and slammed down 11 aces as she won 6-2 6-3.