Venus next faces Italian 15th seed Francesca Schiavone, who crushed Austria's Sybille Bammer 6-2 6-1.

CNN: Serena survives epic in Madrid opener

Top seed Nadia Petrova then beat Austria's Sybille Bammer 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.

BBC: SPORT | Tennis | Petrova and Golovin reach final

Danish second seed Caroline Wozniacki eased into the third round with a 51-minute 6-0 6-2 victory over Austria's Sybille Bammer, who hit 28 unforced errors.

BBC: Kim Clijsters through in rain-hit Cincinnati Open

Third seed Victoria Azarenka progressed with a 6-1 7-5 win over Austria's Sybille Bammer, and the Belarussian will next play Spanish 28th seed Maria Jose Martinez.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Third seed Daniela Hantuchova cruised past unseeded Slovakian compatriot Dominika Cibulkova 6-1 6-4 and will now play 13th seed Sybille Bammer, who beat Karolina Sprem 6-2 6-3.

BBC: SPORT | Tennis | Petrova and Williams both advance

The sixth seed defeated Czech Lucie Safarova 6-2 6-2, her 27th win in 28 encounters with left-handed players, to set up a clash with unseeded Austrian Sybille Bammer.

CNN: Serena maintains Grand Slam record

Seeds Agnieszka Radwanska, Flavia Pennetta, Alisa Kleybanova, Agnes Szavay, Sybille Bammer and Aleksandra Wozniak also advanced, but Alize Cornet, Dominika Cibulkova, Zheng Jie, Ai Sugiyama and Sara Errani failed to progress.

BBC: Jelena Jankovic

Sixth seed Venus Williams, who is chasing her first Australian Open title at the age of 29, claimed her second consecutive straight-sets win as she was similarly untroubled by Sybille Bammer 6-2 7-5.

CNN: Williams pair continue smooth progress

Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova, the 10th seed, was thrashed by Danish teen Caroline Wozniacki, Polish eighth seed Agnieszka Radwanska went down to Italian Francesca Schiavone, and Swiss number 13 seed Patty Schnyder was beaten by Austrian Sybille Bammer.

CNN: Federer, Nadal and Djokovic cruise through