Serena storms into third round

Updates from Day 3 of the Australian Open.

Halep, the 2014 French Open finalist, lost 6-4, 6-3 to Zhang Shuai, giving the No. 133-ranked Chinese qualifier her first win at a Grand Slam after 14 losses.

Finding that extra gear when required is one of the factors that have helped Roger Federer to 17 grand slam singles titles but the Swiss barely needed to move out of first in his opening match against Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili.

“Dolgopolov is a different player, a different level”, Federer said.

Williams had 26 winners, including seven aces in the match.

He may have to meet Grigor Dimitrov, who plays with a style that has been compared with Federer’s, in the third round.

“When the draw came out and I saw who I was playing I just thought that I hoped to stay out there more than an hour”, she said.

“Aleksandr can play great when you give him too much time so maybe it wasn’t a bad thing that it was as fast as it was”.

Melbourne Park has three stadiums with retractable roofs – Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and Hisense Arena. If Sharapova wins, she could face a more hard opponent in the fourth round, 18-year-old rising star Belinda Bencic.

“I tried to forget in the match”.

“I’m not really pro that”, Murray, a four-time finalist in Melbourne said Tuesday, after advancing to the second round. “So it’s not easy, but on the court I try to concentrate on whoever is over the net”. “He was playing wonderful in the last set… more aggressive than me. Once I got the tiebreaker I was better”.

As a match-fixing controversy continued to reverberate at Melbourne Park, Williams swatted Hsieh Su-wei 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round as she seeks a record-equalling 22nd major title.

And Italy’s Roberta Vinci overcame Irina Falconi to move towards a potential semi-final rematch with Williams – whom she stunned in the US Open last four, ending her bid for a rare calendar-year Grand Slam.

“From what I assume, yeah, but I don’t really know”, said the defending champion when asked if her sister would be back.

Maria Sharapova cruised into the third round, sweeping past Aliaksandra Sasnovich with the loss of just three games.

At the time, she called herself “Super Serena” and posted a picture of herself dressed like Superwoman.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Serena Williams has had so much success for such a long time that even in a second-round match she can set a record at the season’s first Grand Slam event. Williams is on court later Wednesday.

Bouchard, coming off a long layoff late a year ago after sustaining a concussion when she slipped and fell in a dressing room at the U.S. Open, reached the final in a warmup tournament at Hobart last week but ran out of steam against Radwanska.

“It was very hot today so I was very glad to get it done in straight sets”.

The Australian Open announced the fine Wednesday after a meeting by the committee of Grand Slam supervisors.

In the biggest upset of the day, two-time Wimbledon champion and sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Russian-born Australian Daria Gavrilova.