Defending champion Novak Djokovic made light of the
intense Melbourne heat to ease into the third round of the Australian Open.
The Serb overcame an early fall and a temperature of
41.5C to beat Leonardo Mayer 6-0 6-4 6-4.
Top seed Serena Williams took just 63 minutes to thrash
Vesna Dolonc 6-1 6-2.
Fourth seed Li Na ended the hopes of 16-year-old Belinda
Bencic in straight sets, while Tomas Berdych impressed in a three-set win over
Kenny De Schepper.
The weather again caused problems for the players, a day
after 42C heat prompted Canada's Frank Dancevic to describe the conditions as
"inhumane" after he fainted.
Li (Chn) [4] beat Bencic (Swi) 6-0 7-6 (7-5)
Bencic, who has been described as "the new Martina
Hingis" and is occasionally coached by the Swiss great's mother, appeared
overawed early on as Li dominated from the start and took the first set without
dropping a game.
The teenager put up more of a challenge in the second
set, breaking serve twice to threaten an upset.
"It was a little bit warm out there," said Li.
"But I am pretty happy. At least I won the match and am still in the
tournament."
S Williams (US) [1] beat Dolonc (Ser) 6-1 6-2
Williams' routine victory earned her a place in the
history books as she equalled Margaret Court's record of 60 match wins in the
Open era at the Australian tournament.
The result was never in doubt from the moment the
American, a five-time winner in Melbourne, broke the world number 104's serve
in the second game of the match.
"I just tried to hit a bunch of aces and a bunch of
winners - that's all you can do because it's too hot to get into long
rallies," she said.
Culled from BBC Sports
