Smooth Keys glides into last 16 at Open

Melbourne - US Open finalist Madison Keys continued her serene progress through the Australian Open draw with a 6-3, 6-4 win over unseeded Ana Bogdan on Saturday.

The 17th seed, who made the semis at Melbourne Park in 2015, has not dropped a set and breezed past the plucky Romanian, ranked 104, in 73 minutes in their third-round match on Margaret Court Arena.

"I'm really excited. I definitely feel I'm playing well," said Keys, who was one of only three Americans to make the round of 32.

She had only dropped seven games going into this match, taking just 41 minutes to get past Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-0, 6-1 in the second round and must now be rated one of the favourites going into the second week.

"Ana played great today and made me play my best tennis," Keys added.

The American, coached by former great Lindsay Davenport, next faces either French eighth seed Caroline Garcia or Belarussian Alaksandra Sasnovich in the last 16.

"Lindsay is amazing. We've had three years together and she has taught me how to handle big moments like this," said Keys.

Results from the Australian Open on Saturday:

Women's singles

3rd round

Karolina Pliskova (CZE x6) bt Lucie Safarova (CZE x29) 7-6 (8/6), 7-5

Madison Keys (USA x17) bt Ana Bogdan (ROM) 6-3, 6-4

Simona Halep (ROM x1) bt Lauren Davis (USA) 4-6, 6-4, 15-13