Serena Williams stormed past Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard and into the Australian Open third round on Thursday as her quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title gathered pace.
The American won 6-2, 6-2 in 70 minutes, setting up unseeded Ukrainian teenager Dayana Yastremska as the next hurdle in her bid for another major to equal the mark set by Australian great Margaret Court.
Serena says: “It wasn’t an easy match. Eugenie’s been to the final of Wimbledon [in 2014] and the semifinals of other Grand Slams.
“So I knew ‘Serena, you’ve got to come out hot, you’ve got to come out firing’. She’s a really good player, and I haven’t had many matches since last year.”
POWERED: Naomi Osaka. Photo: HAMISH BLAIR/EPA
In other action, women’s world No.1 Simona Halep survived an almighty scare against Sofia Kenin before she overcame the unseeded American 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 to reach the third round.
US Open champion Naomi Osaka powered past unseeded Slovenian Tamara Zidansek 6-2, 6-4. She plays Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei in the next round.
In the men’s action, Canada’s Milos Raonic dropped the first set but recovered to beat Stan Wawrinka 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6 in a contest that lasted just over four hours.
Kei Nishikori was dragged into a five-setter for the second match in a row but the eighth seed dug deep to beat Croatian veteran Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 5-7, 7-6.