MELBOURNE, Australia— 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. ADVERTISING MELBOURNE, Australia— Serena Williams has had so
MELBOURNE, Australia— 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.
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.
She closed with an ace, her seventh, finishing in precisely an hour.
“It all started here — this is where I played my first Grand Slam right on this court and I’m still going, it’s such an honor,” said Williams, who has a 70-9 win-loss record at Melbourne Park since her debut in 1998. “I love it every time I come here.”
She hit 26 winners, including one around the post that she thought may have been a first for her, at age 34.
“My first one I think,” she said. “I was like, “Yay. Never too late.”
Williams’ next opponent will be 18-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina, who beat Croatia’s Ana Konjuh 6-4, 6-3, and she faces a potential quarterfinal match against Maria Sharapova, which would be a rematch of the 2015 final.
Sharapova reached the third round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the first match completed on day three, when light rain caused an hour-long delay getting started on the outside courts.
Roger Federer extended his streak by reaching the third round for the 17th straight Australian Open.
Federer, playing his 65th consecutive major, advanced 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 over Alexandr Dolgopolov. 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 straight years.
He didn’t face a break point against Dolgopolov, his sometimes practice partner, and said “I thought I served great.”
“Very happy, conditions are extremely quick,” he said. “I had to serve well and as the match went on I started to feel better and better.”
Seventh-seeded Kei Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open finalist, advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Austin Krajicek, No. 15 David Goffin beat Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 and No. 19 Dominic Thiem had a 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 win over Nicolas Almagro.
Sharapova, the 2008 champion and four-time finalist at Melbourne Park, 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.
“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.”
Other seeded players advancing included No. 12 Belinda Bencic, who had a 6-3, 6-3 win over Timea Babos, and No. 13 Roberta Vinci, who beat Irina Falconi 6-2, 6-3.
The 92nd-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko earned one of her biggest wins since returning from retirement after having a baby in 2013, beating two-time major winner and No. 23-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 7-5.
