Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova into 3rd round at Australian Open

In only his second firstround loss at a major tournament, the oft-injured 29-year-old fought for four hours, 41 minutes before the inspired Verdasco won 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.

Time is catching up with Venus Williams, but world number one Serena sees no reason why her sister would not return for the 2017 Australian Open.

“To come back here and play my first match on Rod Laver is always very special as you always get those first little jitters out of the way”, she said.

It solidifies her position as Britain’s number one and, although coming against an out-of-sorts Williams, the win was built on a mixture of devastating groundstrokes and impressive defence.

Serena didn’t offer many clues when she was asked about it today.

“It’s irrelevant how old she is because she’s such a champion with so much experience and knowledge”, said Konta.

No. 2-ranked Murray, who opened with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 win over Alexander Zverev, answered questions about reports, published by the BBC and Buzzfeed News, that match-fixing had gone unchecked in tennis.

Sharapova scored her 599th career victory today and will try to become the 17th woman in history to reach the 600-win mark when she faces American Lauren Davis next.

Williams ended the match with a scorching down-the-middle ace, her sixth of the second set. Djokovic had a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Chung Hyeon of South Korea.

It didn’t get any better in the second set with a despondent Williams, her left thigh heavily strapped, unable to handle the Konta serve or find the shots to hurt an opponent oozing confidence.

Djokovic, who had two wisdom teeth removed after the Madrid Masters earlier that month, said after the loss to Santoro that he was not fully fit because he was still taking medication.

Australia’s great and good turned up for what could have been Lleyton Hewitt’s final match – only for the veteran to beat Jack Duckworth and extend his farewell tournament into another round. He lost in the third round in his first two trips to Melbourne Park in 2000 and ’01 and again last year – in between he won the title four times and lost one final during a run of reaching the semifinals or better in 11 consecutive years.

Williams was consistently firing down serves 30 kph (18.6 mph) faster than Hsieh and it was taking its toll, with weak returns opening up the court for the top seed.

“When the draw came out and I saw who I was playing I was like ‘Well, OK, I just hope to stay out there more than an hour, ‘ ” Konta said in a post-match TV interview, apparently as surprised as anyone after her straight sets win.

“That’s always something that especially when it’s like in the hand/wrist area, it’s in the back of your mind”.

Up next for Williams is the unseeded but looming Daria Kasatkina; the 2014 junior French Open champion defeated the 2013 junior Australian Open and US Open champion Ana Konjuh in straight sets.