Number 10 seeds Serena Williams on Wednesday cruised into the third round of the women’s singles event at the ongoing Australian Open while 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu faced an embarrassing defeat to bow out of the competition.
23-time Grand Slam champion Williams, in search for a record-tying 24th title, defeated Serbia’s Nina Stojanovic in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 in a contest that lasted one hour and nine minutes at the Rod Laver Arena.
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With the victory, she has now claim a third-round spot in the Australian Open for the 19th time in the 20 appearances that she has made in Melbourne in her career.
The 39-year-old, who has played and won more matches at this major than any other woman in the tournament’s history, improved her win-loss record at the Australian Open to 89-12. Her first-round victory over Laura Siegemund was her 100th Australian Open singles match.
“It’s really about finding that key balance there for me,” Williams said in her post-match press conference as per the WTA website.
She will now face Anastasia Potapova in the third round.
Meanwhile, No. 8 seed Andreescu faced a 3-6, 2-6 loss against Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Su-Wei in second round women’s singles contest.
“I’m just disappointed that today that was my all because I know I gave my all today and to me I think that was the most disappointing part and that was like my initial evaluation of the match,” Andreescu said after the match.
In other women’s singles matches, No.7 seed Aryna Sabalenka and No.19 seed Marketa Vondrousova also advanced to the next round.