Tennis – Australian Open:Serena Williams joined older sister Venus in the third round of the Australian Open this morning as the main contenders continued to move safely and swiftly through the draw.
Serena had no problems defeating Czech Petra Kvitova 6-2 6-1 to remain on course to defend the title she won last year while Venus cruised to a 6-2 7-5 victory over Austria's Sybille Bammer.
Defending champion Serena brushed aside the challenge of the unseeded teenager Kvitova in little over an hour and then claimed: “I could have played a lot better.”
It was a wholly dominant display from the world number one, who dropped just three points on her first serve while winning more than half of the points on Kvitova’s service.
Williams is chasing a fifth title at Melbourne Park and ominously for her rivals said afterwards she was already nearing peak form and fitness.
“I thought today was a little bit better than my match in my first round,” said Williams, who had come into the tournament under a fitness cloud after limping through her defeat against Elena Dementieva in the final at Sydney last week.
“I felt like I was moving better and I had better energy. I just felt all around a lot better. I don’t think I’m that far (from full fitness) and I felt like I could have actually played a lot better today.”
Williams will next play 32nd seed Carla Suarez Navarro, who beat Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 6-1 6-4 today.
Sixth seed Venus , who is chasing her first Australian Open title at the age of 29, claimed her second consecutive straight-sets win as she was similarly untroubled by Bammer.
It was the second left-hander Williams has played and she will meet another in the last 32 after unseeded Australian Casey Dellacqua defeated Karolina Sprem 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (8/6) in the final match today.
Former world number one Ana Ivanovic continued her disappointing grand slam form since winning the 2008 French Open as she was bundled out by 36th-ranked Gisela Dulko 6-7 (6/8) 7-5 6-4.
It is the seventh major in succession the Serbian has failed to get past the fourth round and she admitted her growing frustration at the early exits.
“It hurts, I must say,” she said. “I think I just have to be patient. It will take some time. I do feel better on the court. I feel like my old self.
“There are still some areas that are not there for me to rely on when I need them the most. Some matches it’s there, some not.”
Fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki played for the second consecutive day but showed no ill-effects with a trouble-free 6-3 6-1 win over Germany’s Julia Goerges.
Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka reached the third round of a grand slam for the 11th consecutive occasion with a simple 6-4 6-0 victory over Stefanie Voegele.
Agnieszka Radwanska, the 10th seed, and 17th seed Francesca Schiavone both had straight-sets wins and will now meet in the third round.
Australia’s top hope Samantha Stosur (13) will avoid a seed in the next round, however, after the Queenslander beat Kristina Barrois 7-5 6-3.
Unseeded Italian Alberta Brianti lies in waits after she upset Sabine Lisicki, the 21st seed, 2-6 6-4 6-4. Other seeded players to progress today were China’s Na Li (16), Daniela Hantuchova (22) and Shahar Peer (29).
Australian Open – Thursday results
Men's Singles 2nd round:Stefan Koubek (Aut) bt Ivan Dodig (Cro) 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 6-2, (18) Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Janko Tipsarevic (Ser) 4-6 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-3, (31) Albert Montanes (Spa) bt Stephane Robert (Fra) 4-6 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-3 6-2, (30) Juan Monaco (Arg) bt Michael Llodra (Fra) 3-6 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 6-3, Denis Istomin (Uzb) bt Michael Berrer (Ger) 7-5 6-3 6-4, (20) Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Jan Hajek (Cze) 6-2 6-1 6-1, (10) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt Taylor Dent (USA) 6-4 6-3 6-3, (26) Nicolas Almagro (Spa) bt Benjamin Becker (Ger) 6-4 6-2 3-6 4-6 6-3, Lukasz Kubot (Pol) bt Santiago Giraldo (Col) 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-1, (1) Roger Federer (Swi) bt Victor Hanescu (Rom) 6-2 6-3 6-2, Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) bt (17) David Ferrer (Spa) 4-6 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-1, (9) Fernando Verdasco (Spa) bt Ivan Sergeyev (Ukr) 6-1 6-2 6-2, (22) Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Donald Young (USA) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-1, Alejandro Falla (Col) bt Marcel Granollers-Pujol (Spa) 6-4 6-1 6-3, (3) Novak Djokovic (Ser) bt Marco Chiudinelli (Swi) 3-6 6-1 6-1 6-3, (6) Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt Illya Marchenko (Ukr) 6-3 6-3 6-0
Women's Singles 2nd round:(1) Serena Williams (USA) bt Petra Kvitova (Cze) 6-2 6-1, (32) Carla Suarez-Navarro (Spa) bt Andrea Petkovic (Ger) 6-1 6-4, Alberta Brianti (Ita) bt (21) Sabine Lisicki (Ger) 2-6 6-4 6-4, (29) Shahar Peer (Isr) bt Tsvetana Pironkova (Bul) 6-1 6-4, (22) Daniela Hantuchova (Svk) bt Sofia Arvidsson (Swe) 6-4 6-1, (17) Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt Julie Coin (Fra) 6-3 6-4, (10) Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (Rus) 6-0 6-2, Gisela Dulko (Arg) bt (20) Ana Ivanovic (Ser) 6-7 (6-8) 7-5 6-4, (16) Na Li (Chn) bt Agnes Szavay (Hun) 3-6 7-5 6-2, Tathiana Garbin (Ita) bt Yaroslava Shvedova (Kaz) 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-0, (4) Caroline Wozniacki (Den) bt Julia Goerges (Ger) 6-3 6-1, (9) Vera Zvonareva (Rus) bt Iveta Benesova (Cze) 6-0 6-3, (13) Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt Kristina Barrois (Ger) 7-5 6-3, (7) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt Stefanie Voegele (Swi) 6-4 6-0, (6) Venus Williams (USA) bt Sybille Bammer (Aut) 6-2 7-5, Casey Dellacqua (Aus) bt Karolina Sprem (Cro) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (8-6)
Men's Doubles 1st round:Fabio Fognini (Ita) & Potito Starace (Ita) bt Jeremy Chardy (Fra) & Marc Gicquel (Fra) 5-1 ret, Feliciano Lopez (Spa) & Rainer Schuettler (Ger) bt Frederico Gil (Por) & Kristof Vliegen (Bel) 6-3 6-2, (11) Simon Aspelin (Swe) & Paul Hanley (Aus) bt Marcos Daniel (Bra) & Daniel Koellerer (Aut) 6-1 6-2, Igor Andreev (Rus) & Evgeny Korolev (Rus) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukr) & Mischa Zverev (Ger) 6-1 7-6 (8-6), Ivo Karlovic (Cro) & Dusan Vemic (Ser) bt (9) Christopher Kas (Ger) & Dick Norman (Bel) 6-4 3-6 6-4, Julien Benneteau (Fra) & Steve Darcis (Bel) bt (13) Michael Llodra (Fra) & Andy Ram (Isr) 7-5 3-6 7-5, Carsten Ball (Aus) & Stephen Huss (Aus) bt Benjamin Becker (Ger) & Florian Mayer (Ger) 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3), John Isner (USA) & Sam Querrey (USA) bt Jeff Coetzee (Rsa) & Rogier Wassen (Ned) 6-4 6-1, (3) Lukas Dlouhy (Cze) & Leander Paes (Ind) bt Leos Friedl (Cze) & David Skoch (Cze) 6-3 6-1, Simone Bolelli (Ita) & Andreas Seppi (Ita) bt Lukas Lacko (Svk) & Michael Russell (USA) 6-4 6-2, Eric Butorac (USA) & Rajeev Ram (USA) bt Thomaz Bellucci (Bra) & Andre Sa (Bra) 6-3 6-4, (14) Martin Damm (Cze) & Filip Polasek (Svk) bt Marinko Matosevic (Aus) & Bernard Tomic (Aus) 6-2 6-1, Igor Kunitsyn (Rus) & Dudi Sela (Isr) bt Marco Chiudinelli (Swi) & Viktor Troicki (Ser) 6-4 6-2, Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) & Ivan Ljubicic (Cro) bt (6) Frantisek Cermak (Cze) & Michal Mertinak (Svk) 6-3 7-6 (9-7), Michael Kohlmann (Ger) & Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) bt (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) & Max Mirnyi (Blr) 6-4 6-4
Women's Doubles 1st round:(16) Iveta Benesova (Cze) & Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (Cze) bt Sara Errani (Ita) & Carla Suarez-Navarro (Spa) 6-2 6-1, Sally Peers (Aus) & Laura Robson (Gbr) bt Jill Craybas (USA) & Abigail Spears (USA) 6-3 7-5, (13) Gisela Dulko (Arg) & Flavia Pennetta (Ita) bt Alona Bondarenko (Ukr) & Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr) 6-4 2-6 6-3, (9) Elena Vesnina (Rus) & Jie Zheng (Chn) bt Alize Cornet (Fra) & Sharon Fichman (Can) 7-5 6-3, (12) Chia-Jung Chuang (Tpe) & Kveta Peschke (Cze) bt Ipek Senoglu (Tur) & Yaroslava Shvedova (Kaz) 6-0 7-5, (10) Sania Mirza (Ind) & Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spa) bt Yayuk Basuki (Ina) & Kimiko Date Krumm (Jpn) 6-4 6-2, Agnes Szavay (Hun) & Roberta Vinci (Ita) bt Olga Govortsova (Blr) & Tatiana Poutchek (Blr) 7-5 6-4, Victoria Azarenka (Blr) & Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Kaia Kanepi (Est) & Jasmin Woehr (Ger) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4, Carly Gullickson (USA) & Vladimira Uhlirova (Cze) bt Alexandra Dulgheru (Rom) & Edina Gallovits (Rom) 6-3 3-6 6-3, Elena Baltacha (Gbr) & Liga Dekmeijere (Lat) bt Lucie Safarova (Cze) & Aleksandra Wozniak (Can) 7-5 6-2, Vera Dushevina (Rus) & Anastasia Rodionova (Rus) bt (5) Nadia Petrova (Rus) & Samantha Stosur (Aus) 3-6 6-4 6-1, (14) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Ger) & Vania King (USA) bt Shannon Golds (Aus) & Marija Mirkovic (Aus) 6-0 6-1, Jelena Jankovic (Ser) & Shenay Perry (USA) bt Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) & Michaella Krajicek (Ned) 6-1 6-4, (7) Alisa Kleybanova (Rus) & Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt Alberta Brianti (Ita) & Urszula Radwanska (Pol) 4-6 7-5 7-6, Virginie Razzano (Fra) & Yanina Wickmayer (Bel) bt Maria Kondratieva (Rus) & Anastasija Sevastova (Lat) 7-5 3-6 6-2, Shahar Peer (Isr) & Galina Voskoboeva (Kaz) bt Magdalena Rybarikova (Svk) & Renata Voracova (Cze) 6-2 7-5, Sarah Borwell (Gbr) & Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) bt Polona Hercog (Slo) & Petra Martic (Cro) 6-4 7-6 (7-3), (15) Maria Kirilenko (Rus) & Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Sorana-Mihaela Cirstea (Rom) & Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 6-0 6-7 (4-7) 6-2, Melinda Czink (Hun) & Natalie Grandin (Rsa) bt Sabine Lisicki (Ger) & Aravane Rezai (Fra) 6-3 6-2, Ioana Raluca Olaru (Rom) & Olga Savchuk (Ukr) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) & Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) 4-6 6-1 6-2