Serena slams Hsieh to march into third round

One thing for sure: the Williams sisters aren’t playing doubles, so that will be the last sighting of Venus this year.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova also advanced Monday, beating Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum to avenge her upset three-set loss in the first round here in 2014.

But before the seven-time Grand Slam champion could regain any momentum, Konta closed out the match on her next serve.

Konta, 24, admitted her lead-up form wasn’t the best, despite playing at two tournaments before here.

“She was definitely a tricky opponent but it was a good match for me to play someone like that”.

There is no doubt about it, since changing her coaching set up to be closer to her team in Spain, there is an air of calm, and pragmatism that goes hand in hand with Konta now.

Djokovic was broken once by Halys in the third set, but recovered to close out the match on his second match point when the Frenchman hit into the net.

A fan of Japan’s Kei Nishikori waits for his second round match against Austin Krajicek of the United States to begin at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016.

“I haven’t played many matches in many weeks, it was great to come out here and start my season”, said Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam victor who could face a rematch against Williams this year but in the quarterfinals.

Roger Federer has moved into the third round at the Australian Open with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 win over Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Sharapova dropped two service games in the first set, including once when serving at 5-1, but was otherwise consistent except for some over-hit ground strokes.

“I’m not going to talk about it much just because I want the book to do the talking”.

Her three Grand Slam titles a year ago in Australia and at Roland Garros and Wimbledon took her within one of Graf’s long-time record of 22 and put her three clear of both Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. “Every time I step on the court it feels special”.

“It’s always cool to do something fresh and new”, she said.

Konta, who was born in Sydney and represented Australia until 2012, returned to the same court where she practised as a youngster to beat Williams 6-4 6-2.

Williams pulled out of the lead-up Hopman Cup midway through her first match with knee trouble but looked untroubled as she burned around the court to fire 26 winners past the Taiwanese. “Yay, never too late”, she said.

Williams will next face world No. 69 Daria Kasatkina after the young Russian accounted for Croatian Ana Konjuh 6-4 6-3.

Konta, who reached the fourth round of the US Open past year, enhanced her growing reputation further by thrashing the eighth-seed, dropping just six games in a 79-minute rout on Rod Laver Arena.

There were question marks surrounding Sharapova’s health after she withdrew from her only lead-up event in Brisbane due to a left forearm injury suffered in practice, but there were no ill effects as the No.5-seeded Russian powered past Hibino in an hour and 13 minutes, 6-1, 6-3 at the Margaret Court Arena.

“It’s a hard and painful loss”, the fifth-seeded Nadal said.