TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS:THE DEFENDING champion Serena Williams swept into the Australian Open third round in Melbourne yesterday with a 6-2, 6-1 win over unseeded teenager Petra 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.

Sixth seed Venus Williams, 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 Sybille Bammer 6-2, 7-5.

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 yesterday.

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 yesterday were China’s Na Li (16), Daniela Hantuchova (22) and Shahar Peer (29).

Meanwhile, World number one Roger Federer sent out an ominous warning to his rivals with the most comfortable of second-round victories over Victor Hanescu. The Swiss needed only an hour and 39 minutes to overcome the 47th-ranked Romanian 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 under the Rod Laver Arena lights.

It was a convincing performance at the end of a day on which just one seed fell out of the men’s draw – 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis came from two sets down to beat 17th seed David Ferrer 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-1.

Third seed Novak Djokovic, the in-form Nikolay Davydenko, 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and last year’s semi-finalist Fernando Verdasco all progressed as the reputation for surprises at the season-opening grand slam continued to be undermined.

Robin Soderling, the eighth seed, remains the only player inside the top 12 to have been eliminated after he lost in the opening round.

And while the tournament poses as a tight affair, grand slam record holder Federer gave a reminder of his greatness, albeit against clay-court specialist Hanescu.

Federer said: “I was very happy with the way I played. I moved well and played some amazing shots. It was great.”

Earlier, Djokovic, the 2008 winner, overcame his first-set histrionics to defeat Switzerland’s Marco Chiudinelli 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.

The Serbian cut an agitated figure as he lost the opening set but eventually turned his aggression into winners – he hit 58 – to overwhelm his opponent.

“Definitely I was frustrated, especially at the start of the match, because he was really giving it to me,” said Djokovic, who will play Uzbek Denis Istomin next.

MEN'S SINGLES:Second 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:Second 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.