Serena Williams, Ash Barty enter Australian Open third round

Pic Courtesy: twitter/@AustralianOpen

Serena Williams overcame an erratic performance at the Australian Open on Wednesday to beat Slovenian Tamara Zidansek 6-2, 6-3 and advance to the third round. The 38-year-old American, who is bidding for a record 24th Grand Slam singles title, was hardly troubled in the first set as she broke Zidansek twice to wrap up the opener in just over half an hour.

But the 70th-ranked Zidansek put up an impressive defence in the second set, saving seven break points as an increasingly frustrated Williams racked up more than a dozen unforced errors. Zidansek, however, could not keep up the resistance and Williams clinched the victory with a cross-court forehand winner to set up a meeting with China`s Wang Qiang.

World number one Ash Barty eased into the third round of the Australian Open with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Polona Hercog on a blustery Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday. The Australian had given her compatriots a scare by losing her first set of the tournament on Monday but there were no such nerves on the main show court on day three of the championships as Barty raced through the first set in 24 minutes.

Hercog caused the French Open champion a few problems on her serve with her rangy returns but Barty saved all six break points she faced and sealed the win when the Slovenian was unable to keep a backhand return in the court.

The top seed will play Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen or Kazakh Elena Rybakina in the third round as she looks to stay on course to become the first homegrown champion at the Australian Open since 1978.