Williams, the top seed and title holder, will face another Russian player Margarita Gasparyan, who defeated Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 6-3 and 6-4 in 91 minutes.
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The victory puts her one win away from a grand slam quarter-final, which has not been achieved by a female Briton since Jo Durie made the last eight at Wimbledon in 1984.
Serena Williams is yet to drop a set at the 2016 Australian Open after making light work of Daria Kasatkina in straight sets.
Allertova has put up a good fight so far, taken to three sets to beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands and another three setter to dispatch a seed of her own in Sabine Lisicki, so she will feel she has put in some solid court time ahead of this match.
Other players with more tenuous links have been “adopted”, including Belgian four-times grand slam champion Kim Clijsters, who was affectionately known as “Aussie Kim” due to her relationship with local champion Lleyton Hewitt.
“It’s unbelieveable”, said the 21-year-old Friedsam afterwards, before explaining that after having been crushed in the first set, she realized that she had nothing to lose and simply went for it. She repeatedly struggled in the first set and placed her back against the wall.
“I think I’m feeling in the best shape body-wise, spirit-wise, everything-wise”, Azarenka said after her second-round win.
Maria Sharapova also weathered a fightback when she beat pint-sized American Lauren Davis 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-0, helped by a strategic break and change of dress, for her 600th career win.
“It’s very exciting, I must tell you”, the 34-year-old Swiss national said of his latest record.
The world number one, who yesterday denied allegations that he deliberately lost a match at the Paris Masters in 2007, branding them as “absurd”, took advantage of a catalogue of unforced errors from the Italian to progress to the next round by sealing a 6-1, 7-6, 7-5 success.
It was the third year in succession she had failed to make the main draw at the Australian Open.
Meanwhile Novak Djokovic continued his path to a potential Australian Open semi-final showdown with Roger Federer with a 6-1 7-5 7-6(6) third round victory over Italy’s Andreas Seppi.
“Oh boy”, she said.
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Returning to the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the fifth straight year was a confidence booster, and he said the right wrist “actually, it was OK”. She says, “I usually put the almond butter on the banana, but I thought that was a little too much this time”.
