Williams overcame the stifling Melbourne heat to defeat the Russian 7-5, 6-0.
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World number one Serena Williams has defeated a plucky Vera Zvonerava 7-5, 6-0 to book her place in the third round of the Australian Open.
Williams went down a break in the third game of the first set, only to break Zvonerava back to put herself back on serve.
Zvonerava refused to lie down to the power-hitting of Williams, once again going up a break, but Williams showed why exactly she is ranked number one, winning four games straight to clinch the set 7-5.
After a sluggish start to the match, Williams came out a complete different player in the second set and dominated from the outset.
The door opened up for Zvonerava at 4-0 down when she went 30-0 up on Williams’ serve, but the Russian couldn’t hold on and was thoroughly taken apart in the closing stages of the match and went to lose the closing set 6-0.
Williams will now face the winner of Nicole Gibbs and Elina Svitolina on Saturday.
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