Australia Open 2014: Top seed Serena Williams wastes little time in reaching third round as she brushes aside Vesna Dolonc

Williams recorded a simple 6-1 6-2 victory to get off the baking court in just 63 minutes

Agency
Wednesday 15 January 2014 04:26 EST
Comments
Serena Williams progressed to the third round of the Australian Open via a 6-1 6-2 victory over Vesna Dolonc
Serena Williams progressed to the third round of the Australian Open via a 6-1 6-2 victory over Vesna Dolonc (GETTY IMAGES)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Top seed Serena Williams showed she was in no mood to hang around in the scorching Melbourne heat after racing into the third round of the Australian Open.

With the temperature touching 40C, 17-time grand slam champion Williams brushed aside the challenge of world number 104 Vesna Dolonc with minimal fuss.

Russian-born Serbian Dolonc did excite the crowd on occasion, but those moments were too infrequent and Williams wasted little time in sealing a 6-1 6-2 win in 63 minutes.

She quickly took a 3-0 lead in the opening set after clinically breaking Dolonc in the second game when the 24-year-old hit a backhand long.

It was clear that Williams had no intention of hanging around in the searing heat as she continued to attack her opponent's serve, but a rash of errors saw the American squander two more break points and allowed Dolonc to get on the scoreboard.

That was as good as it got for the underdog, though, who gave up another break of serve before Williams, despite struggling while serving into the sun, wrapped up the first set at the second attempt after just under half an hour.

Dolonc, who beat Spaniard Lara Arruabarrena in the first round, was immediately broken at the start of the second set and conceded another break of serve in the fifth game after three consecutive double faults.

Williams almost surrendered her serve but saved the only break point she faced with an ace before going on to seal victory and set up a clash with either 31st seed Daniela Hantuchova or Karolina Pliskova.

 

PA

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in