Serena Williams breezed into the Australian Open third round but Petra Kvitova and Bianca Andreescu were the biggest casualties on the third day.
American Williams, who has dropped just five games in her two matches so far, beat Serbia’s Nina Stojanovic 6-3 6-0.
Czech ninth seed Kvitova, who reached the final in 2019, was stunned 6-4 1-6 6-1 by Sorana Cirstea of Romania.
Andreescu, playing in her first major since winning the 2019 US Open, lost 6-3 6-3 to tricky Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei.
Last year’s finalist Garbine Muguruza continued her good form on the hottest day of the tournament so far with a 6-3 6-1 win over Russian Liudmila Samsonova.
Belarusian seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka also advanced, beating Daria Kasatkina of Russia 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.
However, Venus Williams lost to Sara Errani 6-1 6-0 – a scoreline that does not do the American justice after she played on with an injury.
Williams twisted her right ankle in the first set and had heavy strapping applied to it, as well as having further treatment to her already taped left knee.
The tearful 40-year-old looked as though she would withdraw but she composed herself and returned, despite being unable to serve or move properly, to see out the match against the Italian.
Source: BBC
