The Latest: Serena Williams back in Australian Open’s 3rd Rd
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Latest from the Australian Open (all times local):
2:30 p.m.
Serena Williams is back in the Australian Open’s third round, where her stay in the Grand Slam tournament ended a year ago.
The owner of an Open era-record 23 major singles championships moved on by grabbing the last seven games to beat 99th-ranked Nina Stojanovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-0 in a little more than an hour.
Williams saved all three break points she faced, hit a half-dozen aces and compiled 27 winners with just 11 unforced errors.
The 39-year-old American has won the title in Australia seven times, but her third-loss to Wang Qiang in the third round in 2020 was Williams’ earliest exit at Melbourne Park in 14 years.
This time, Williams will try to go further with a win against Anastasia Potapova, a 19-year-old Russian who was the junior champion at Wimbledon in 2016 and currently is ranked 101st.
Potapova has yet to win a tour-level title and will be making her debut in the third round at a major tournament.
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1:35 p.m.
American Ann Li has reached the third round at a Grand Slam for the second time in a row by beating Alize Cornet at the Australian Open, 6-2, 7-6 (6).
Li, who is 20 and ranked 69th, made her Grand Slam debut in Melbourne a year ago and reached the third round at the U.S. Open.
She reached her first WTA final last week at the Grampians Trophy by winning three matches. The final was called off for scheduling reasons.
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1 p.m.
Bianca Andreescu’s return to competitive tennis has been cut short after she lost in the second round of the Australian Open to Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan 6-3, 6-2.
Andreescu looked out of sorts from the start against the crafty Hsieh, who threw the 2019 US Open champion off her rhythm with her deep, angled groundstrokes and array of slices.
Andreescu, the eighth seed, hadn’t played a match for 15 months due to injuries and the pandemic before she beat Mihaela Buzarnescu in the first round at Melbourne Park.
She had 25 unforced errors against Hsieh and only saved three of the nine break points she faced. She double-faulted on match point.
Hsieh is known for knocking off top players in Grand Slam tournaments, having previously beaten Garbiñe Muguruza at the Australian Open and Simona Halep at Wimbledon.
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11:55 a.m.
Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic headline the matches on Rod Laver Arena during the day session at the Australian Open.
Williams plays 99th-ranked Nina Stojanovic of Serbia in the second round. The 23-time major winner has a 72-2 record in second round matches at Grand Slams, with her only two losses coming against her sister Venus (1998 Australian Open) and Garbine Muguruza (2014 French Open).
Djokovic, the top seed in the men’s draw, takes on American Frances Tiafoe in the next match. Tiafoe, ranked 64th, has never defeated a player ranked in the top five.
Other previous Grand Slam champions in action on the women’s side include Bianca Andreescu, who is playing Hsieh Su-wei; Simona Halep, who is taking on Ajla Tomljanovic; Venus Williams, who plays Sara Errani; and Naomi Osaka, who plays Caroline Garcia in a night session match.
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