Melbourne: Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams made it look easy at the Australian Open on Thursday as Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova flirted with disaster.
Defending champion Djokovic thumped Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo and Williams brought up her 500th career win, against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, to reach the third round.
Former champion Maria Sharapova made it two wins for the loss of just two games, and 2008 French Open winner Ana Ivanovic also strolled through to the weekend fixtures.
Second seed Kvitova had a trickier assignment against battle-hardened Carla Suarez Navarro, but she survived a mid-match meltdown to progress in three sets — and stay on course for the top world ranking.
Djokovic has been in commanding form at the year’s first major as he bids to repeat last season’s astonishing haul of three grand slams among 10 titles, with a 41-match winning streak along the way.
And the Serb expended little energy in his 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 hit-out against Giraldo as he speeds towards an expected semi-final with Andy Murray, his victim in last year’s final, who plays later.
“I try to not underestimate any opponents in early rounds,” Djokovic said.
“Santiago came out early hitting the ball quite flat. But I knew that, you know, sooner or later he’s going to drop the rhythm and I just have to hang in there. I’ve done a good job,” he added.
Williams’s victory kept up her record of reaching the third round in all but one of her 47 grand slams — despite a heavy fall late in the match on her recently injured ankle.
“It’s fine, I just have really wobbly ankles,” she said. “I wasn’t meant to be a ballerina.”
Resurgent Sharapova, the 2008 winner, made light of her total lack of competitive tennis this year as she thrashed US qualifier Jamie Hampton 6-0, 6-1, after dispatching Giselo Dulko by an identical score in the first round.
Afterwards, the Russian said being world number one — which she could achieve at the end of this tournament, along with Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka and the current incumbent, Caroline Wozniacki — was not her priority.
Meanwhile, Australian Lleyton Hewitt won through to the third round of the Australian Open after an injury retirement by his opponent Andy Roddick on Thursday.
Hewitt, who was leading 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the time of the retirement, will now play big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic in the third round on Saturday.
Roddick appeared to over-extend his upper right leg while trailing 3-0 in the second set, but continued until Hewitt went ahead by winning the third set.
Former finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga went through in straight sets against Ricardo Mello but fifth-seeded baseliner David Ferrer, who reached the semis last year, needed five to beat American Ryan Sweeting.
Canada’s Milos Raonic wielded his huge serve as he downed Germany’s Philipp Petzschner 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5. (AFP)
