Melbourne, Australia: Serena Williams matched one of Margaret Court's records at the Australian Open on Wednesday as she advanced to the third round with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Vesna Dolonc.
Williams improved her record to 60-8 at Melbourne Park, equaling Court's 60 match wins in the Open era at the Australian championship.
Court, who won seven of her 11 Australian titles before the Open era began in 1968, has a show court named in her honor adjacent to Rod Laver Arena.
Two fans held up a sign on Wednesday saying center court was "Serena's Arena."
She walked into the stadium wearing a fitted pink blazer, despite the heat which topped 40 Celsius (104F) during the 63-minute match.
Williams fended off the only break point she faced against the No. 104-ranked Dolonc with an ace in the sixth game of the second set.
Despite having trouble at times on her ball toss when she was looking into the sun, the 17-time major winner fired 10 aces, won 85 percent of points when she got her first serve in and hit 24 winners, sticking to the strategy for a hot day as she extended her winning streak to 24 matches.
"I just try to hit a bunch of aces and a bunch of winners -- that's all you can do because it's too hot to get into long rallies," she said.
