Serena Williams, Sharapova into 3rd round at Australian Open

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.

As Williams warmed to the task, Hsieh’s Grand Slam inexperience came to the fore with the American breaking again to love then completing the set in 28 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Sharapova won the 2008 Australian title and has lost three finals at Melbourne Park, including last year’s decider against Williams.

Roger Federer of Switzerland makes a forehand return to Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine during their …

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.

The six-time and defending champion beat No. 90-ranked Hsieh Su-wei 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday at Rod Laver Arena, an all-time record 79th main draw match at the Australian Open.

Sharapova’s match on Rod Laver Arena was one of only three that began on schedule – the other two were also in stadiums with covered roofs – after light rain delayed play for just over an hour on outside courts.

“I played two previous tournaments and I didn’t quite get the results I wanted but I have a very strong belief in the way I want to play out there and the way I way I want to be thinking, so I keep trying every day”.

“I don’t really know”, Serena said. “I think I’m very lucky that I got to spend a lot of my young years here, because I got obviously exposed to the heat out here”.

Konta, who had previously lost to Williams in Wuhan previous year, will play China’s Sasai Zheng in the second round on Tuesday.

All players are required to attend press conferences after grand slam and tour-sanctioned matches, with the maximum penalty for not doing so set at $20,000 (£14,000).

To be fair, when you’ve spent 19 years being questioned about your ball toss, your family and your next opponent the gloss is bound to have worn off. Being the greatest player of the modern era carries an expectation her predecessors weren’t burdened with. I’m not good at those.

Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open finalist, is working with 1989 French Open victor Michael Chang as coach and says the extra attention to detail is good for his game. “That’s why I’ve been playing really well”, Nishikori said.

The 92nd-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko earned one of her biggest victories since returning from retirement after having a baby in 2013, beating two-time major victor and No. 23-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 7-5.

No. 13 Vinci beat Irina Falconi 6-2, 6-3 to advance in the opposite quarter of the same half of the draw.