MELBOURNE, Australia -- Serena Williams has had so much success for such a long time that even in a second-round match she can set a record at the season's first Grand Slam event.
The six-time and defending champion beat No. 90-ranked Hsieh Su-wei 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday at Rod Laver Arena, an all-time record 79th main draw match at the Australian Open.
She closed with an ace, her seventh, finishing in precisely an hour.
"It all started here -- this is where I played my first Grand Slam right on this court and I'm still going, it's such an honor," said Williams, who has a 70-9 win-loss record at Melbourne Park since her debut in 1998. "I love it every time I come here."
She hit 26 winners, including one around the post that she thought may have been a first for her, at age 34.
"My first one I think," she said. "I was like, 'Yay. Never too late.' "
Williams' next opponent will be 18-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina, who beat Croatia's Ana Konjuh 6-4, 6-3, and she faces a potential quarterfinal match against Maria Sharapova, which would be a rematch of the 2015 final.
Sharapova reached the third round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the first match completed on day three, when light rain caused an hour-long delay getting started on the outside courts.
The fifth-seeded Sharapova won the 2008 Australian title and has lost three finals at Melbourne Park.
She dropped two service games in the first set, including once when serving at 5-1, but was otherwise consistent except for some over-hit ground strokes.
"To come back here and play my first match on Rod Laver is always very special as you always get those first little jitters out of the way."
Kateryna Bondarenko earned one of her biggest wins since returning from retirement after having a baby in 2013, beating two-time major winner and No. 23-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 7-5.
The 92nd-ranked Bondarenko is playing only her second Grand Slam tournament since returning to the tour in 2014.
When Venus Williams slowly walked off court following her loss to Britain's Johanna Konta on Tuesday, Australian fans may have wondered whether she'd be back for her 17th Australian Open next year.
Venus skipped her post-match news conference, incurring a $5,000 fine.
Serena didn't offer many clues when she was asked about it today.
"I don't really know," Serena said. "I would assume (Venus will be back). She's never mentioned anything about not being here, not competing."
Venus, 35, was the oldest woman in this year's Australian Open field. She's also just two Grand Slams shy of tying the record for the most-ever majors played by a woman -- 71, set by American Amy Frazier.
One thing for sure: the Williams sisters aren't playing doubles, so that will be the last sighting of Venus this year.
Roger Federer extended his streak by reaching the third round for his 17th consecutive Australian Open.
Federer, playing his 65th major, advanced 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 over Alexandr Dolgopolov. He lost in the third round in his first two trips to Melbourne Park in 2000 and '01 and again last year -- in between he won the title four times and lost one final during a run of reaching the semifinals or better in 11 consecutive years.
He didn't face a break point against Dolgopolov, his sometimes practice partner, and said "I thought I served great."
"Very happy, conditions are extremely quick," he said. "I had to serve well and as the match went on I started to feel better and better."
Kei Nishikori reached the third round of the Open for the sixth consecutive year, beating Austin Krajicek 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 on Margaret Court Arena.
The No. 7-seeded Nishikori, a two-time quarterfinalist here, dropped serve just once when he was serving for the second set but recovered to win a tight tiebreaker.
Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open finalist, is working with 1989 French Open winner Michael Chang as coach and said the extra attention to detail is good for his game.
"It's always great support from Michael. That's why I've been playing really well," Nishikori said. "He's a very nice guy outside of the court -- on the court he's very tough."
Other seeded players advancing included No. 12 Belinda Bencic, who had a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Timea Babos, and No. 13 Roberta Vinci, who beat Irina Falconi 6-2, 6-3.
The 92nd-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko earned one of her biggest victories since returning from retirement after having a baby in 2013, beating two-time major winner and No. 23-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 7-5.
Sports on 01/20/2016