MELBOURNE, Australia — Defending champion Kim Clijsters cruised into the third round of the Australian Open and then showed just how much support she has at Rod Laver Arena by getting the crowd to sing “Happy Birthday” to her younger sister Elke.
Clijsters needed only 47 minutes to beat Stephanie Foretz Gacon of France 6-0, 6-1 today, conceding just 10 points in the first set and showing no signs of a hip problem that forced her to retire during a semifinal against Daniela Hantuchova at a warm-up tournament two weeks ago.
She will meet Hantuchova in the next round and has a potential rematch of the 2011 Australian Open final with Li Na in the fourth.
Roger Federer, who has won four of his 16 Grand Slam titles in Australia, got a walkover into the third round when Andreas Beck of Germany withdrew from their scheduled match because of a lower back injury. Federer will meet Ivo Karlovic of Croatia or Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in the next round.
Eighth-ranked Mardy Fish became the first top-10 player on the men’s side to lose, falling 7-6 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (6) to Colombia’s Alejandro Falla.
No. 7 Tomas Berdych advanced 6-1, 6-0, 7-6 (4) over Olivier Rochus of Belgium and Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany was leading 6-0, 4-0 when Spain’s Pere Riba retired with an injured left foot.
Second-seeded Rafael Nadal eliminated Tommy Haas in straight sets and No. 11 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina ousted Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.
Serena Williams advanced to the second round in a match that finished after midnight, her ankle holding up to its first test since she sprained it in Brisbane two weeks ago. The only thing that bugged her, despite the 11:32 p.m. start Tuesday, were the insects in a 6-3, 6-2 win over Tamira Paszek.
“I hate bugs more than you can imagine,” Williams said. “Like, they kept jumping on me. Yuck!”
