TENNIS: Venus Williams was sent crashing out of the Australian Open on the same day men's top seed Rafael Nadal and pre-tournament favourite Andy Murray were both clinical and combative in their respective straightforward victories.
Williams, the seven-times grand slam champion, created the first major shock of the tournament when she was lost her second round match to Spanish newcomer Carla Suarez- Navarro.
The sixth seed was felled by the free-hitting Spaniard 2-6 6-3 7-5 under floodlights, hours after sister Serena had survived a tricky encounter to advance.
"She was super consistent and aggressive and just went for her shots," Venus acknowledged. "We haven't quite figured out exactly which areas went wrong. But I definitely have to credit her.
"I don't believe in jinxes because I don't believe in witches or warlocks or magical creatures and stuff," she added when asked if she was frustrated at another early exit here after her first round loss in 2006.
Serena's champion's mentality lifted her to the third round despite a distinctly lukewarm performance.
Facing Argentine Gisela Dulko, three-times champion Serena won the first set comfortably enough but had to overcome 3-0 and 5-2 deficits in the second to secure a 6-3 7-5 victory in 110 minutes.
"I was able to get through it not playing my best... that's how I would sum it up," Serena said. "Lots and lots and lots and lots of room for improvement.
"Today I was at a 'D-minus' but it is good that I won." Serena meets China's Peng Shuai next.
There were no such upsets in the men’s draw as top seed Nadal and pre-tournament favourite Murray recorded easy wins.
Nadal thumped Croatia's Roko Karanusic 6-2 6-3 6-2, taking only 97 minutes to defeat his opponent.
"I won without any problems today, so that was good," said Nadal, who will take on former world number two Tommy Haas.
"The first big opponent, I think," said Nadal, referring to his next opponent. "It is gonna be a very good test to see how I am. I am going to have to play very well if I want have chances to win, no?"
Fourth-seeded Murray was explosive on Rod Laver Arena, pummelling Spain's Marcel Granollers 6-4 6-2 6-2 in a performance which included 37 clean winners.
"I felt like once I got ahead I could settle down," Murray said. "To come through in straight sets is obviously important. It was a good test to have at this stage in the tournament."
Last year's runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga completed a great day for French tennis when he beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-7 7-6 7-6 6-2.
Tsonga showed no signs of the back injury that forced him to pull out of a warm-up event in Sydney last week as he wore down his opponent.
It has been 81 years since a Frenchman won the Australian Open singles title but five Frenchmen are through to the third round this year. Fabrice Santoro, the oldest man in the tournament, progressed on Wednesday, while Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils also won today.
Women's fourth seed Elena Dementieva extended her winning streak to 12 matches with a comfortable 6-4 6-1 victory over Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic.
Dementieva, who is unbeaten in 2009 after claiming the Auckland and Sydney titles, admitted after her first round victory over Kristina Barrois that her run of matches had left her a little fatigued.
The world number four made 23 unforced errors and served five double faults on the second show court but was still too strong for 35th-ranked Benesova, wrapping up the match in 72 minutes.
"Well, I'm not thinking about my chances. I'm really enjoying the way I'm playing right now. Just want to go as far as I can, just enjoy every single match I play here," she said.
Former champion Amelie Mauresmo breathed a big sigh of relief after squeaking past the lone Briton left in the women's draw. The ex-world number one eked out a 4-6 6-3 6-2 win over Elena Baltacha.
RESULTS
Men's Singles 2nd rd:(1) Rafael Nadal (Spa) bt Roko Karanusic (Cro) 6-2 6-3 6-2, Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Flavio Cipolla (Ita) 6-1 6-2 6-1, (24) Richard Gasquet (Fra) bt Denis Istomin (Uzb) 6-3 6-4 6-4, (13) Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) bt Guillermo Canas (Arg) 7-5 6-3 6-4, (12) Gael Monfils (Fra) bt Stefan Koubek (Aut) 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-2, (17) Nicolas Almagro (Spa) bt Fabio Fognini (Ita) 6-2 7-5 6-0, Mario Ancic (Cro) bt (25) Ivo Karlovic (Cro) 5-7 7-5 4-6 6-4 6-3, (6) Gilles Simon (Fra) bt Chris Guccione (Aus) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-1 6-2, (4) Andy Murray (Gbr) bt Marcel Granollers-Pujol (Spa) 6-4 6-2 6-2, (31) Jurgen Melzer (Aut) bt Andreas Beck (Ger) 5-7 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 6-3, (22) Radek Stepanek (Cze) bt Michael Berrer (Ger) 6-3 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 7-5, (14) Fernando Verdasco (Spa) bt Arnaud Clement (Fra) 6-1 6-1 6-2, (9) James Blake (USA) bt Sebastien De Chaunac (Fra) 6-3 6-2 6-3, (18) Igor Andreev (Rus) bt Ernest Gulbis (Lat) 6-4 6-4 5-7 3-6 6-4, Dudi Sela (Isr) bt Victor Hanescu (Rom) 6-3 6-3 6-2, (5) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt Ivan Ljubicic (Cro) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (9-7) 6-2
Women's Singles 2nd rd:Carla Suarez-Navarro (Spa) bt (6) Venus Williams (USA) 2-6 6-3 7-5, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spa) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) 6-2 6-4, (21) Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spa) bt Julie Coin (Fra) 6-1 6-4, (12) Flavia Pennetta (Ita) bt Jessica Moore (Aus) 6-4 6-1, Virginie Razzano (Fra) bt (14) Patty Schnyder (Swi) 6-3 6-1, (18) Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) bt Yung-Jan Chan (Tpe) 6-0 6-2, Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt Sabine Lisicki (Ger) 6-3 6-4, (4) Elena Dementieva (Rus) bt Iveta Benesova (Cze) 6-4 6-1, (8) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Tatjana Malek (Ger) 6-2 6-2, (31) Alona Bondarenko (Ukr) bt Severine Bremond (Fra) 7-6 (7-1) 1-6 6-2, (22) Jie Zheng (Chn) bt Melinda Czink (Hun) 7-6 (7-0) 5-7 6-3, Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr) bt Lourdes Dominguez Lino (Spa) 7-5 7-5, (13) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt Tathiana Garbin (Ita) 4-1 ret, (20) Amelie Mauresmo (Fra) bt Elena Baltacha (Gbr) 4-6 6-3 6-2, Shuai Peng (Chn) bt Sesil Karatancheva (Bul) 6-4 6-0, (2) Serena Williams (USA) bt Gisela Dulko (Arg) 6-3 7-5.