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(CNN)This was no ordinary second-round match for Serena Williams at the Australian Open, despite her opponent placing outside the top 200.
Williams faced Vera Zvonareva, whose slippage in the tennis world over the past two years has been largely due to injury and illness. The wily Zvonareva is a former world No. 2 – and faced Williams on a much bigger stage, the Wimbledon final, in 2010.
Still a strong outsider on Thursday, Zvonareva played without pressure, building up three set points on Williams’ 5-3 serve in the opener. Trouble for the world #1.
But just as Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal had their backs to the wall on Wednesday, so did Williams.
She cleared all three set points to keep them.
It was the start of a 10-game run that took the 18-time Grand Slam winner to a 7-5, 6-0 win on the first day of sweltering conditions – temperatures hit nearly 36 degrees Celsius in Melbourne – at the this year’s propelled opening major.
“Things really clicked,” Williams told reporters. “I had no choice but for things to click. I just had to start playing better.”
Williams dropped just eight points in the second set, an ominous sign for her third-round opponent Elina Svitolina.
Williams older sister Venus also reached the third round by defeating compatriot Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-3.
Serena said she continues to take inspiration from Venus, who was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Sjogren’s Syndrome in 2011.
“She says, ‘Yeah, if I win, it’s going to be great. If I don’t, I’m not worried,'” Serena said. “I think that’s a great attitude because it takes a lot of the pressure off you.
“She has achieved so much in her career. She doesn’t have to win another match. The same goes for me. As long as we can look at it that way, we’re both going to do really well.”
In another marquee duel in the second round, two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka met US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki. After a tight first set, the rejuvenated – and healthy – Azarenka won 6-4, 6-2 and celebrated by dancing on the pitch.
She’s on track to take on Williams in the quarterfinals.
Last year’s Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova beat Germany’s Mona Barthel 6-2, 6-4. Kvitova is one of the contenders at Melbourne Park this year after triumphing in Sydney last week.
2013 Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova has been flying under the radar so far – which she probably doesn’t mind.
And after getting past the tricky Kirsten Flipkens in the first round, Cibulkova defeated the unpredictable Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2, 6-0.
Another happy escape
Sharapova saved match points by defeating qualifier Alexandra Panova, but it’s an unusual feat. Saving match points in two straight games is almost unheard of, but veteran Feliciano Lopez pulled it off.
The Spaniard saved three match points against American Denis Kudla before saving another in the third set against France’s Adrian Mannarino on Thursday.
Lopez, the 12th seed, finally advanced when Mannarino stopped with heat stroke while leading 6-4 6-4 6-7(3) 0-4.
“I feel very lucky,” Lopez told the Australian Open website. “I think those two games that I won I shouldn’t have won, at least not today. I was very lucky.”
There was no such drama for frontrunner Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic needed less than an hour and a half to defeat young Russian Andrey Kuznetsov – who upset Grand Slam finalist David Ferrer at Wimbledon last year – 6-0, 6-1, 6-4, but defending champion Stan Wawrinka had to do something work harder against Romanian qualifier Marius Copil. Wawrinka prevailed 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 6-3.
Despite the defeat, Copil can be encouraging because he hit the fastest serve of the tournament at 242 kilometers per hour.
In a week of mostly positive results for the Australians, favorite Lleyton Hewitt – in his record 19th tournament in a row – gambled away a two-set lead over his 33-year-old compatriot Benjamin Becker of Germany. Becker, previously 0-6 in the fifth set, prevailed 2-6 1-6 6-3 6-4 6-2.
US Open finalist Kei Nishikori admitted he felt slightly dizzy from the conditions but still eliminated another big server, Croatia’s Ivan Dodig.
Dodig failed to serve the fourth set and Nishikori won 4-6 7-5 6-2 7-6(0).
“Hot out there,” Nishikori said. “A lot of sun. It wasn’t easy. I was a bit dizzy and tired, especially in the third and fourth sets. But you know, it’s going to be like that in Australia, so I think I was ready for that. Hopefully I’ll (in) Don’t play again in this condition.”
The weather forecast for Nishikori looks promising.
The forecast high for the next two days is 27 degrees Celsius before highs drop to the low 20s.
Read: Nadal, Sharapova survive
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