Maria Sharapova of Russia hits a return against Ashley Harkleroad of the U.S. during the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 18, 2006. [Reuters]

　　MELBOURNE, Australia: Serena Williams confounded her critics with a dominating display in the Australian Open yesterday, but world No 1 Lindsay Davenport wobbled before booking her third round berth.

　　Among the men, No 2 seed Andy Roddick neared his best form to dispose of South African Wesley Moodie in straight sets while fourth seed David Nalbandian, seventh seed Ivan Ljubicic and eighth seed Gaston Gaudio also progressed.

　　Women's fourth seed Maria Sharapova, sixth seed Nadia Petrova and former champion Justine Henin-Hardenne also safely negotiated the second round.

　　Williams, the defending champion, has looked out of shape and out of form in the lead up to the tournament but put in a determined performance against Camille Pin of France, winning 6-3, 6-1 in just 49 minutes.

　　Many had expected she would struggle in the Melbourne Park heat after enduring jibes about her fitness heading into the first Grand Slam of the year, but she ominously marched on.

　　"I'm feeling pretty good right now, I'm feeling ready," warned the two-time Australian Open champion, seeded 13, who will next play 17th seed Daniela Hantuchova of the Slovak Republic.

　　The winner of that match is scheduled to meet Sharapova, who battled blisters on her left foot to down feisty American qualifier Ashley Harkleroad 6-1, 7-5.

　　"It was good, I haven't had these kind of matches in a while," said the Russian starlet.

　　"It's been nearly two months already since I had a bit of competition so it's good to get that in early rounds and push yourself a little bit more."

　　Top seed Davenport, who could meet either Sharapova or Williams in the semi-finals, initially struggled to assert control in her match against unseeded Croatian Karolina Sprem.

　　She was taken to a first set tie-break but came back to eventually win 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 and keep alive her hopes of repeating her 2000 tournament win here.

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