Roger Federer's has served a reminder that he's still the man to be beat at the Australian Open with straight sets demolition of Romanian Victor Hanescu.
Federer's patchy form in the leadup to the year's first Grand Slam had given fresh hope to his rivals while a shaky first-round victory over Igor Andreev on Tuesday did little to silence talk of new dynasties.
But the world number one, who lost to Rafa Nadal last year, is a step closer to extending his grand slam record to 16 at Melbourne Park.
His next faces Spain's Albert Montanes he has beaten in both previous meetings.
The women's number one and defending champion Serena Williams joined her older sister Venus in the third round as the main contenders continued to move safely through the draw.
Serena had no problems defeating Czech Petra Kvitova 6-2 6-1 while Venus cruised to a 6-2 7-5 victory over Austria's Sybille Bammer.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic, the 2008 champion, Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Australia's Lleyton Hewitt advanced in straight sets but the former world number one Ana Ivanovic bowed out after a three set loss to an unseeded Argentinian Gisela Dulko.
