Top seeds are red-hot

Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams barely moved out of second gear while Victoria Azarenka underlined her Australian Open pedigree as players experienced the hottest conditions of the championship so far yesterday.

Four-times champion Djokovic only needed to up his game after an hour of his 6-0 6-1 6-4 victory over Andrey Kuznetsov, while Williams had to be on her mettle a little sooner following some early resistance from former world No2 Vera Zvonareva.

Once the 18-times Grand Slam singles champion got up to speed, however, she cruised away from the Russian with a 7-5 6-0 victory.

"Things really clicked. I had no other option but for things to click," the American said as she moved into the third round and within sight of a potential quarterfinal with Azarenka.

Twice champion Azarenka, whose ranking has plummeted to 44 after she was restricted to just nine tournaments last year with foot and knee injuries, proved she would not be kept down for long as she hammered eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-2.

"I knew that I'm unseeded so I can play anybody. I just accept whoever is on the opposite side [and] I'm happy with the way I stayed consistent," she said.

Wozniacki said that losing "sucks", but she felt her good friend was back to her best.

Men's champion Stan Wawrinka, who beat Romanian qualifier Marius Copil, the lowest-ranked men's player in the second round at 194, and eighth seed Milos Raonic, who dispatched American Donald Young, also both advanced after clinical victories.

Air temperatures dropped considerably for the later matches at Melbourne Park, but exceeded 35°C during the day session

Controversy also raged yesterday after a male TV interviewer asked seventh seed Eugenie Bouchard to showcase her dress with a "twirl" after her second round victory on Wednesday.

Williams's victory came about 90 minutes after older sister Venus hammered US compatriot Lauren Davis 6-2 6-3, while sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska made short work of Sweden's Johanna Larsson in a 6-0 6-1 victory.

US Open finalist Kei Nishikori was forced to dig himself out of a small hole when he lost the first set to Ivan Dodig, but once he got warmed up, the Croatian wilted.

"It was ... hot out there," Nishikori said after winning 4-6 7-5 6-2 7-6 (0). "A lot of sun. I was a little bit dizzy and tired.

"But it's going to be like this in Australia."