Williams, Henin roll to easy wins
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Defending champion Serena Williams and top-ranked Justine Henin pushed aside two more overmatched opponents in the Australian Open, advancing to the fourth round with straight-set victories Friday.
Williams, 26-1 with three titles at Melbourne Park since the start of 2003, beat No. 26 Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-4.
Henin, 15-1 in Melbourne since the start of the '04 tournament that she won, overcame serving troubles to hold off 25th-seeded Francesca Schiavone 7-5, 6-4.
Henin extended her winning streak to 31, dating to the Wimbledon semifinals. But the Belgian star's path to the championship is tough, with both of last year's finalists potentially in her path.
Williams, who was unseeded and ranked No. 1 when she beat then top-seeded Maria Sharapova here last year to claim her eighth Grand Slam title, fired 15 aces and had a stretch of seven service games in which she yielded only 6 points.
Williams also was painting the lines with her groundstrokes, contributing to 29 winners. When she made her 25 unforced errors, it was usually was by a matter of inches.
"I feel pretty good about where I am," she said. "Hopefully, I'll peak later in the tournament."
Williams will face No. 12 Nicole Vaidisova, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-4. Williams had to save set points in a semifinal against Vaidisova here last year before winning in straight sets.
"Obviously, it doesn't get much tougher than that," Vaidisova said of the fourth-round match against Williams. "She's a great champion, a great fighter.
"I'll definitely have to have my A game on."
No. 5 Sharapova faced fellow Russian Elena Vesnina later Friday.
No. 3 Jelena Jankovic, who had to save match points in her first-round match, had a lapse in the second set and a code violation for coaching in the second game of the third set of a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 win over No. 30 Virginie Razzano of France.
Henin will play Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei, who beat Aravane Rezai 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4 in the third round.
"I hate to look too far," Henin said. "I just want to get ready, improve my game and be in my best shape. I know the draw, but I like to stay concentrated on myself."
Men's No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko has not dropped a set in three rounds, beating France's Marc Gicquel 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 on Friday.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had a straight sets win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.
Marcos Baghdatis downed 2005 champion Marat Safin 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 in a momentum-swinging match that started Thursday and stretched into Friday morning and completed the second round.
Safin was the last player to beat top-ranked Roger Federer in Melbourne, breaking up the Swiss star's four Australian titles with a semifinal upset three years ago.