Top seed Serena Williams progressed to the third round of the Australian Open as she eased to a straightforward victory against Vesna Dolonc.
Williams, a five-time winner in Melbourne, took just 63 minutes to beat her Serb opponent 6-1 6-2.
Fourth seed Li Na ended the hopes of 16-year-old Belinda Bencic in straight sets but 15th seed Sabine Lisicki lost to Monica Niculescu.
Seventh seed Tomas Berdych impressed in a three-set win over Kenny De Schepper.
The searing heat again caused problems for the players as the temperature reached 41.5C, marginally lower than the 42C recorded on Tuesday which prompted one player to describe the conditions as “inhumane”
Rod Laver Arena
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.
But on both occasions Li, a beaten finalist in Melbourne in 2011 and 2013, hit back instantly before winning the tie-break to ensure she remains on course for a third final appearance in Melbourne.
“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 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.
Mayer (Arg) v Djokovic (Ser) [2]
Stosur (Aus) [17] v Pironkova (Bul)
Ebden (Aus) v Pospisil (Can) [28]
Hisense Arena
Berdych (Cze) [7] beat De Schepper (Fra) 6-4 6-1 6-3
Mannarino (Fra) v Ferrer (Spa) [3]
Dellacqua (Aus) v Flipkens (Bel) [18]
Margaret Court Arena
Niculescu (Rom) beat Lisicki (Ger) [15] 2-6 6-2 6-2
Pennetta (Ita) [28] v Puig (Pur)
Kerber (Ger) [9] v Kudryav’va (Rus)
Querrey (US) v Gulbis (Lat) [23]
Wawrinka (Swi) [8] v Falla (Col)
‘Tomic bombs’
That was the headline that greeted Australian hope Bernard Tomic on Wednesday after he retired one set into his much-hyped first-round match against Rafael Nadal.
“Jeers For Tomic After Walk-Off” continued Melbourne’s Herald Sun, prompting Tomic to hold a media conference to explain the situation.
“I had the scans in the morning, which confirmed that obviously I was right,” said the 21-year-old. “I tore my groin playing the other day.
“It’s just a small one. It’s not that big, but if I had played on it it would have been 10 times worse, they say, so I could have been out potentially for three or four months.”
Quotes of the day
“Today, with the heat, I really was thanking my dad for telling me to serve hard 20 years ago. It’s really paying off now with quicker points.” Serena Williams
“I think I was misunderstood. Obviously they [spectators] thought I was shaking Rafa’s hand because he’s too good and I’m forfeiting the match because I can’t play against him.” Bernard Tomic on being booed by his home crowd on Tuesday
