Australian Open updates: Serena Williams crushes Eugenie Bouchard to join sister Venus and Simona Halep in third round

Dominic Thiem and Hyeon Chung beaten, but wins for Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori, Naomi Osaka and Elina Svitolina

epa07292620 Serena Williams of the USA in action against Eugenie Bouchard of Canada during their women's second round match of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 17 January 2019.  EPA/JULIAN SMITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
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Serena Williams continued her bid for a record-equalling 24th grand slam title at the Australian Open on Thursday by thrashing Canada's Eugenie Bouchard 6-2, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.

Williams, who won the title on her last visit to Melbourne in 2017, stormed to a 3-0 lead as Bouchard struggled against the American's power and precision.

World No 79 Bouchard, a former Wimbledon finalist, did fight back to break the Williams serve, but handed the break straight back. Another exchange of breaks saw the Canadian pull herself to 2-4, but Williams ensured her opponent failed to hold serve at all in the opening set with another break before serving out.

The start of the second set went with serve until 2-2, but that is where the Bouchard resistance ended as Williams rattled through the next four games to book her place in the third round.

Williams, a seven-time champion in Melbourne, will next take on Dayana Yastremska for a place in the fourth round after the unseeded Ukrainian defeated Spanish 23rd seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

epa07292010 Simona Halep of Romania in action against Sofia Kenin of the USA during their women's second round match of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 17 January 2019.  EPA/JULIAN SMITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
Romania's Simona Halep fought hard to beat the American Sofia Kenin in Melbourne on Thursday. Julian Smith / EPA

Halep grinds past Kenin

World No 1 Simona Halep lurched into the Australian Open third round on Thursday after being pushed to the limit by unseeded Sofia Kenin over three sets.

The Romanian top seed, who also struggled in her opening match at Melbourne Park, eventually downed the American  6-3, 6-7, 6-4 after two-and-a-half hours to set up a meeting with seven-time grand slam champion Venus Williams.

Williams herself had to grind out a win in her second three-set victory of the tournament.

The unseeded 38-year-old American came back strongly to beat Alize Cornet of France 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.

Williams, who played her first Australian Open in 1998, said she drew energy from the Melbourne Park crowd in the deciding set against world number 36 Cornet.

"The first two sets were so tough and in the second I felt I was controlling the points but just falling a little bit short," she said. "So I tried to do the same (in the third set) and not fall a little bit short. It worked out."

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 17:  Dominic Thiem of Austria receives treatment in his second round match against Alexei Popyrin of Australia during day four of the 2019 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia.  (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Dominic Thiem of Austria receives treatment in his second-round match against Alexei Popyrin of Australia. Mark Kolbe / Getty Images

Thiem limps out

Seventh seed Dominic Thiem retired when 7-5, 6-4, 2-0 down to young wildcard Alexei Popyrin.

The Austrian got through a first round five-setter against Benoit Paire that finished in the early hours of Wednesday morning and he never looked 100 per cent against the Australian.

Thiem smashed his racquet at one point and called for the trainer before retiring to hand Popyrin, 19, the biggest win of his fledgling career.

"It's never easy winning like this, Dom played a tough first round. It's never easy winning like this," the teenager said.

But he added: "I always thought I was in the match, to be honest."

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 17:  Hyeon Chung of Korea plays a forehand in his second round match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France during day four of the 2019 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia.  (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Hyeon Chung, who reached the Australian Open semi-finals in 2018, was beaten by Pierre-Hugues Herbert in Round 2 this year. Mark Kolbe / Getty Images

No Chung magic this time

Hyeon Chung will not be repeating last year's giant-killing heroics after crashing out to Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

The 24th seeded South Korean lost 6-2, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 to the unseeded Frenchman on Melbourne Arena.

Twelve months ago the little-known Chung, who models his game on Novak Djokovic, was the toast of the town as he tore through a tough half of the draw before hitting the buffers against Roger Federer in the semi-finals.

Chung has struggled to build on his breakout performance where he famously beat fourth seed Alexander Zverev and Djokovic en route to retiring in the second set against Federer with massive, deep blisters on both feet.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 17:  Milos Raonic of Canada and Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland embrace at the net after their second round match during day four of the 2019 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia.  (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Canada's Milos Raonic beat Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland on Day 4 of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Thursday. Quinn Rooney / Getty Images

Raonic relief after win over Wawrinka

Stan Wawrinka, the 2014 champion, was edged out by a relieved 16th seed Milos Raonic in the tightest of second-round battles.

The 33-year-old Swiss, unseeded for the first time since his debut in 2006 after being plagued by injury, fell to the Canadian after four sets decided on tiebreaks 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6.

"That's hard to describe," Raonic said. "I feel four hours went by in about 15 minutes. The adrenalin just takes over."

Wawrinka was a break up in the fourth set but failed to serve out from 5-4 to take it to a fifth.

"I was fortunate to stay alive in the fourth set," conceded Raonic, whose best major performance was reaching the 2016 Wimbledon final where he lost to Andy Murray.

"Four tie-breaks, three went my way," the Canadian added. "Could easily have been different."

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 17:  Naomi Osaka of Japan celebrates after winning match point in her second round match against Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia during day four of the 2019 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia.  (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
Naomi Osaka has reached the third round of the Australian Open after a straight sets win on Thursday. Michael Dodge / Getty Images

Osaka breezes through

Japanese fourth seed Naomi Osaka swept past Tamara Zidansek in straight sets to reach the third round as she targets a second grand slam title.

The US Open champion defeated the unseeded Slovenian 6-2, 6-4 to set up an all-Asian clash with Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan in the next round.

The 21-year-old struggled to close out the match after a strong start but always looked in control against the world No 78.

"I thought I served alright, this was my first time playing her and I'm just happy to win to be honest," Osaka said.

She anticipated a tough test against Hsieh, who she defeated in their only previous meeting.

"She's been playing really well recently so I just hope that it's exciting," she said.

epa07291518 Kei Nishikori of Japan in action against Ivo Karlovic of Croatia during their second round match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 17 January 2019.  EPA/MARK DADSWELL  AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
Kei Nishikori got a scare from Ivo Karlovic in the second round of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday. Mark Dadswell / EPA

Nishikori squeaks past Karlovic

Japanese star Kei Nishikori battled through a draining five-set epic to make the third round.

Asia's top-ranked men's player needed an energy-sapping 3hr 48min to get past big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 5-7, 7-6 in humid conditions on Margaret Court Arena.

"It was a tough match which could have gone both ways. He almost had it for sure," said Nishikori, a three-time quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park, after falling to his knees in relief.

He next plays either 32nd seed Philipp Kohlschreiber or Joao Sousa.

epa07291170 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in action against Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia during their second round match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 17 January 2019.  EPA/DAVID CROSLING  AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
Elina Svitolina beat Viktoria Kuzmova to keep her first grand slam title bid alive. David Crosling / EPA

Svitolina grows in confidence

Sixth seed Elina Svitolina said she was growing in confidence after a straight sets romp into the third round.

The Ukrainian, who scored her biggest career win by clinching the WTA Finals in Singapore last October, dismantled Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-1 in 67 minutes.

"I was trying to be light on my feet and be really quick and I think this was the key today," she said.

The 24-year-old has set her sights high this year, targeting a Grand Slam win and world number one ranking.

She said the WTA victory had demonstrated she could mix it with the game's best players.

"It definitely brought me lots of confidence and showed I can play at a really high level," she said. "So I'm just trying to transfer this to the grand slam."

Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic reacts after defeating United States' Madison Brengle in their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
|Karolina Pliskova reacts after defeating Madison Brengle in their second-round match at the Australian Open. Mark Schiefelbein / AP Photo

All about focus for Pliskova

Seventh seed Karolina Pliskova recovered from a slow start to storm home against unseeded American Madison Brengle and grab a spot in the third round.

The 26-year-old Czech went down a set before unleashing a devastating flurry of aces and winners in her 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory.

Once roused, she lost only one of 15 games in a match that was affected by several short rain interruptions.

"The match had a bit of everything, some breaks, some good tennis, some bad mistakes from me too," she said.

"The first set was not very good from my side. My focus wasn't very good but I managed to get back in the match and win it."

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