KEY POINTS:
Melbourne, Jan 18 Reuters - Champion Serena Williams booked her place in the Australian Open tennis championships fourth round with a routine 6-3 6-4 win over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on Friday.
The seventh-seeded American struggled for fluency throughout the match but was always too strong for the
26th seed, sealing a convincing victory in 72 minutes.
Williams next plays 12th seed Nicole Vaidisova for a place in the quarterfinals after the Czech ousted Japan's Ai Sugiyama.
- REUTERS