Sharapova sails into Aus Open 3rd round

Also, Ana Ivanovic advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 win over qualifier Anastasija Sevastova in a match that was suspended when a spectator fell on the stairs at Rod Laver Arena.

Serena Williams commiserates with Kasatkina after she wins in 44 minutes, the fastest match thus far at the Australian Open.

Updates from Day 3 of the Australian Open.

“I think I served really good and I played a solid match but I feel like I can improve even more so I think that’s a positive”.

Williams gave herself an “A” for effort as she battled past Italy’s Camila Giorgi in the first round, easing concerns over an injured knee that troubled her in the build-up, but she didn’t need to try as hard against Hsieh.

Johanna Konta followed her sublime win against Venus Williams with a proficient 6-2, 6-3 victory over Zheng Saisai of China on Thursday to put her through to the third round of the Australian Open.

After blitzing Taiwan’s Su-Wei Hsieh 6-1 6-2 on Wednesday in exactly one hour, Williams was peppered with questions about Roberta Vinci, the Italian who ended her dream of a calendar slam by beating her in the US Open semifinals.

Roger Federer extended his streak by reaching the third round for his 17th consecutive Australian Open.

Media in Australia tried to claim Konta as one of their own after she cruised to a straight sets victory against nine-time grand slam champion Venus Williams.

The 10th-seeded Isner had 20 aces and 53 winners.

Since then Konta has reached the fourth round of the US Open and won her first matches here.

Serena said she would be tapping up her sister for information about her next opponent, world number 69 Daria Kasatkina.

Japanese seventh seed Kei Nishikori was another early victor on day three as he beat American Austin Krajicek 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-3, and Czech sixth seedTomas Berdych beat Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Mirza Basic 6-4 6-0 6-3.

Zhang will play unseeded Frenchwoman Alize Cornet later this afternoon.

“As a player, I’ve thought, “That doesn’t look right”.

“I should have closed out the second set when it was 5-4 but he started playing better and it was a tight tiebreaker”.

The Russian veteran, seeded five, made short work of the world No. 105 Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2 6-1.

A victor here in 2008 and a three-time runner-up, Sharapova was always heavily favoured, although the departure of second seed Simona Halep to a qualifier on Tuesday showed there are no guarantees.

“I had an opponent that I had never played before today; that’s always tricky, but I’m happy that I got through”, the Russian added.

The 24-year-old has had problems in the past controlling her composure on court but says she is enjoying the extra tension as she goes deeper in the draw.