Mauresmo sails into third round

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Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo moved effortlessly into the Australian Open third round with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Russian Olga Poutchkova.

Mauresmo broke the 19-year-old three times in the opener with a combination of sliced backhands and strong serves.

A slight wobble in the second saw the French seed fall a break down at 2-1 before she recovered to close out the match in 72 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Mauresmo will continue her title defence against Czech Eva Birnerova.

"It's never easy when you go out there and you don't know the player you're up against," said Mauresmo.

"She was pretty talented and she could really play some great shots so I was very serious and I'm very happy to go through."

Serena Williams overcame some nervous moments before beating Luxembourg's Anne Kremer in the second round.

The American slipped a break down early on and later trailed in the tie-break before recovering to win 7-6 (7-4) 6-2.

"It was tough to start with, she was really serious and played really well," said Williams. "I definitely feel like I'm getting better with each match."

She will face fifth seed Nadia Petrova in round three.

Third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova made quick work of Australia's Monique Adamczak in the second round.

Kuznetsova won 6-2 6-1 and will next play fellow Russian and 26th seed Maria Kirilenko, who beat Julia Vakulenko.

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"Last week I was feeling horrible but this week I've been feeling better every day," said Kuznetsova, who pulled out of the Sydney event last week.

Also through are fifth seed Petrova and 11th seed Jelena Jankovic.

Petrova cruised past Argentine Gisela Dulko 6-1 6-2, while 11th seed Jankovic beat Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-2 6-2.

Czech 10th seed Nicole Vaidisova had a comfortable passage into the next round, defeating Milagros Sequera 6-2 6-1.

Japan's Ai Sugiyama, in her 13th Australian Open and seeded 23, fought hard but did not have enough to get past Belarussian Anastasiya Yakimova, who recorded a 6-2 2-6 10-8 win.

The number 14 seed Francesca Schiavone also went out to Czech Lucie Safarova 6-3 6-3 while 18th seed Marion Bartoli lost 6-0 7-5 to Belarussian Victoria Azarenka.

In first-round matches delayed from Tuesday, eighth seed Patty Schnyder beat Madison Brengle 6-3 6-4, and ninth seed Dinara Safina beat Ekaterina Bychkova 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.