Australian Open: Gavrilova dashes Kvitova's hopes

Melbourne: Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams stormed into the Australian Open third round on Wednesday.

Djokovic had a third-set tussle with French teenager Quentin Halys before winning their night match 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3), joining Serena and Roger Federer in the next stage.

As a match-fixing controversy continued to reverberate at Melbourne Park, Serena swatted Hsieh Su-Wei 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round as she seeks a record-equalling 22nd major title.

Federer, who is trying to extend his record number of Grand Slam crowns to 18, then dismantled his 35th-ranked practice partner Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-5, 6-1.

Petra Kvitova became the latest women’s top-10 player to fall, joining Simona Halep and Venus Williams on the sidelines when she was shocked 4-6, 4-6 by Australian giant-killer Daria Gavrilova.

In a positive evening for the hosts, the combustible Nick Kyrgios overcame a mix-up with his shorts to beat Pablo Cuevas and set up a showdown with world number six Tomas Berdych.

“Just a bit of a mix-up before the game,” shrugged Kyrgios, who had to change his shorts midway after the pockets on his first pair weren’t deep enough to hold balls when he was serving.

Agnieszka Radwanska’s sky-high confidence took another leap upwards when she halted Eugenie Bouchard, back in form after suffering concussion at the US Open, 6-4, 6-2.

On court earlier was five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova, who had little difficulty dispatching 105th-ranked Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-1.