Serena Williams overcame a stuttering start before motoring into the third round of the Australian Open with a 7-6 6-2 win over Luxembourg's Anne Kremer.
The twice former champion slapped a backhand winner to set up a third-round showdown with Russian fifth seed Nadia Petrova.
Unseeded at these championships after her ranking nosedived following an injury-plagued 2006, Williams was left grimacing and yelping in the first set as she dropped her serve to hand Kremer the initiative.
But the American got her act back together and after winning the tiebreak, thundered to a 4-0 lead before sealing the win in 95 minutes.
Petrova reached the Australian Open third round with an impressive 6-1 6-2 win over Argentina's Gisela Dulko.
Petrova, who had lost both their previous matches, overpowered her South American opponent from the back of the court, securing victory in 59 minutes on Vodafone Arena.
The Russian, a quarter-finalist last year, capitalised on all five of her break points, breaking twice in the opening set and three times in the second.
Elsewhere, Fourteenth seed Novak Djokovic continued his fine run with a 6-2 7-5 6-1 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez.
Serb Djokovic, winner of the Adelaide warmup event, was made to work hard by Lopez, the world number 79, in the second set before easing through the final set to complete victory in just over two hours.
The 19-year-old Djokovic was knocked out in the first round in his previous two Australian Open appearances.
