Ash Barty helped cement her status as favourite for the Australian Open with another dominant win in the second round in front of her home crowd on Wednesday.
There is enormous pressure and expectation on the 25-year-old to become the first home winner of the event since 1978 but the world No1 looked at ease from the outset against Lucia Bronzetti.
In her opening-round match the Australian dropped just one game, this time it was two as she again came off court well inside the hour mark following a 6-1 6-1 victory.
The result also extended her winning streak to six matches in 2022 having previously won her only warm-up event, the Adelaide International.
The relatively diminutive Australian, who measures in at 5ft 5ins, again used her varied serve to cause problems for her 23-year-old opponent, for whom the Australian Open is her Grand Slam main draw debut.
“I’m continually trying to make it a weapon,” Barty said of her serve. “I’m not the biggest girl out there but I know I’ve got a sound technique and I know, if I can get my rhythm right and use it effectively, it can be a weapon.
“As a kid, I was always serving baskets and baskets of serves to try to create that weapon, to try to create a really sound shot.”
