Defending champion Serena Williams cruised to a comfortable second-round win over France's Camille Pin in the Australian Open on Wednesday. The 13th-seeded American overcame her sluggish her first round performance against China's Na Li and posted an easy 6-3, 6-1 victory over Pin. Top-seed Lindsay Davenport, on the other hand, produced a hard fought win over Karolina Sprem. Davenport suffered a brief setback during the first set tiebreak before claiming a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win.
Top-seed Lindsay Davenport Williams' third round opponent will be 17th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova while Davenport takes on 25th-seeded Maria Kirilenko. Fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova and eighth-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne also secured passage to the third round after defeating Ashley Harkleroad and Hana Sromova respectively. Sharapova next faces Jelena Kostanic of Croatia while Henin-Hardenne plays France's Virginie Razzano. Sixth-seeded Nadia Petrova and 14th-seeded Svetlana Kutznetsova also claimed second round wins on Wednesday. Eighteenth-seeded Elena Likhovtseva and 23rd-seeded Jelena lost to Jankovic Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual and Ukraine's Olga Savchuk respectively to exit the tournament from the second round.