Champion Serena Williams booked her place in the Australian Open fourth round with a routine 6-3 6-4 win over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus earlier today.

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 quarter-finals after the Czech ousted Japan's Ai Sugiyama.

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