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Kerber blasts into Round 3 of Australian Open

Melbourne - Second seed Angelique Kerber dominated Brazilian qualifier Beatriz Haddad Maia to easily reach the Australian Open third round on Wednesday.

The German Wimbledon champion produced a clinical display to advance 6-2, 6-3 in humid conditions.

"It was a tough match, she played really well and I knew that I had to play my best tennis," the three-time Grand Slam champion said.

Kerber shut fellow left-hander Haddad Maia out of the first set, with the frustrated Brazilian hitting 13 winners to seven but unable to match her opponent's consistency. 

The German committed only six unforced errors to 29 and racked up an 80 percent success rate on second serve. 

Haddad Maia lifted as the second set began and Kerber had to wait until the eighth game to go up a break, then proceeded to serve out the match.

Kerber, a winner at Melbourne Park in 2016, will meet Australian wildcard Kimberly Birrell next.

She was wary of the threat posed by the 20-year-old, who will be cheered on by a wildly parochial crowd at Melbourne Park.

"I saw a bit of her match, she played really well, she's on the third round," she said.

"She's playing at home, I'll have to play at my best again."

Kerber is on course for a quarter-final clash with fifth seeded American Sloane Stephens if results go as expected.

She reached the semi-finals at the season-opening Grand Slam last year but lost to Simona Halep in a tight three-setter.

Results from Day 3 of the Australian Open on Wednesday:

Men's singles

Second round

Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x14) bt Viktor Troicki (SRB) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5

Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO x19) bt Stefano Travaglia (ITA) 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3

Tomas Berdych (CZE) bt Robin Haase (NED) 6-1, 6-3, 6-3

Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

Diego Schwartzman (ARG x18) bt Denis Kudla (USA) 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4

Marin Cilic (CRO x6) bt Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 7-5, 6-7 (9/11), 6-4, 6-4

Frances Tiafoe (USA) bt Kevin Anderson (RSA x5) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5

Fernando Verdasco (ESP x26) bt Radu Albot (MDA) 6-1, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3

Karen Khachanov (RUS x10) bt Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 6-3, 6-3, 6-3

Roger Federer (SUI x3) bt Daniel Evans (GBR) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3), 6-3

Taylor Fritz (USA) bt Gael Monfils (FRA x30) 6-3, 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5)

Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x22) bt John Millman (AUS) 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4

Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x20) bt Pablo Cuevas (URU) 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-5

Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) bt Reilly Opelka (USA) 6-7 (15/17), 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10/5)

Alex de Minaur (AUS x27) bt Henri Laaksonen (SUI) 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (7/9), 4-6, 6-3

Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Matthew Ebden (AUS) 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

Women's singles

Second round

Sloane Stephens (USA x5) bt Timea Babos (HUN) 6-3, 6-1

Petra Martic (CRO x31) bt Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) 6-4, 7-5

Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) bt Anett Kontaveit (EST x20) 6-3, 6-3

Caroline Garcia (FRA x19) bt Zoe Hives (AUS) 6-3, 6-3

Ashleigh Barty (AUS x15) bt Wang Yafan (CHN) 6-2, 6-3

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) bt Kiki Bertens (NED x9) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Amanda Anisimova (USA) bt Lesya Tsurenko (UKR x24) 6-0, 6-2

Maria Sakkari (GRE) bt Astra Sharma (AUS) 6-1, 6-4

Danielle Collins (USA) bt Sachia Vickery (USA) 6-3, 7-5

Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x3) bt Johanna Larsson (SWE) 6-1, 6-3

Kimberly Birrell (AUS) bt Donna Vekic (CRO x29) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1

Petra Kvitova (CZE x8) bt Irina Begu (ROU) 6-1, 6-3

Belinda Bencic (SUI) bt Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 7-5, 4-6, 6-2

Aryna Sabalenka (BLR x11) bt Katie Boulter (GBR) 6-3, 6-4

Angelique Kerber (GER x2) bt Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) 6-2, 6-3

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