Serena Williams sails into fourth round of Australian Open

Top seed Serena Williams blew past Slovak Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets to reach the fourth round and set a record of 61 Australian Open match wins here Friday.

Williams didn't face any serious danger in her victory over No.31-seeded Hantuchova, whose only win in their 10 head-to-head matches came in 2006, reports Xinhua.

Williams was off the court in an hour and 20 minutes and had conceded just 12 games in three straight set wins this week.

The American equalled Margaret Court's Australian Open mark of 60 wins with her second round victory and beat that in the third round when she also matched Lindsay Davenport's record of 69 main-draw matches here in the Open era, which means she'll set another record just by showing up Sunday.

The five-time Australian Open champion later withdrew from the doubles, avoiding any extra exposure to the blazing sun during the heat wave that is gripping Melbourne.