Defending champion Serena Williams of the United States has advanced to the third round of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, taking less than an hour to beat Camille Pin of France 6-3, 6-1.
Top seeded American Lindsay Davenport won her second round match today, beating Karolina Sprem of Croatia 7-6, 6-3. Fourth seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia dispatched of Ashley Harkleroad of the United States in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5.
Other women advancing Wednesday included sixth seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia and eighth-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium.
On the men's side, second seeded Andy Roddick of the United States advanced to the third round, after beating South African Wesley Moodie, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2. Also winning their second round matches were seventh seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, eighth seed Gaston Gaudio of Argentina and number 20 James Blake of the United States.
Some information for this report provided by AP.