Serena Williams eased to victory over Eugenie Bouchard to reach the third round of the Australian Open while Simona Halep survived another scare to join her.
Williams is the 16th seed but very much the title favourite, and this performance only reinforced that status as she eased to a 6-2 6-2 victory.
There were perhaps a few more errors than Williams would have liked but also 20 winners and some devastating play, particularly in taking apart the Bouchard serve.
Standing next in the 23-time grand slam champion's way is 18-year-old Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, who upset 23rd seed Carla Suarez Navarro to reach the third round of a slam for the first time.
Top seed Simona Halep staved off a spirited challenge from American youngster Sofia Kenin to prevail 6-3 6-7(5) 6-4 in the third round and set up a showdown with former world number one Venus Williams.
The Romanian has struggled for form and fitness since her first-round defeat at the U.S. Open last August and came into the year's first Grand Slam short of preparation after a back injury ended her 2018 season prematurely.
She broke the 20-year-old Kenin twice in the first set but the American fought back in the second set from 3-0 down to level it at 1-1 in the tiebreaker.
Halep then got the crucial break in the third set to go up 5-4 and converted her second match point for the victory in two hours and 31 minutes.
Halep, who was on a five-match losing streak before the Australian Open, set up a third-round meeting against multiple Grand Slam winner Williams, who beat Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 6-3 4-6 6-0.
Elina Svitolina was in her comfort zone in moving through to the third round - but less so when her relationship with fellow player Gael Monfils was made public.
Monfils was spotted in Svitolina's player box during her 6-4 6-1 victory over Viktoria Kuzmova in the second round, leading to an awkward moment when she was asked about it during her on-court interview.
"I didn't really expect to be asked that because I just finished my match," said the sixth-seeded Ukrainian.
"We are here for tennis so that's why it was a bit strange."
Svitolina, who previously dated England cricketer Reece Topley, added of the relationship: "He's there for me, he's supporting me, and I'm there for him as well. He understands, I understand, what we're going through. It's great."
US Open champion Naomi Osaka was made to work in the second set before coming through 6-2 6-4 against Tamara Zidansek in the second round.
The fourth seed was a break down at 4-2 against 21-year-old Slovenian Zidansek but recovered with a run of four games in a row, saving two break points in the final game.
Osaka next faces the tricky Hsieh Su-wei, who is again having a good run a year after defeating Garbine Muguruza and Agnieszka Radwanska to reach the fourth round.
Things we learned from @Naomi_Osaka_ on Day 4:
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2019
1️⃣ Really happy to win
2️⃣ Hopes you enjoyed the match
3️⃣ Needs to stop saying 'um'#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/obxBMeXJqv
For all the talk of the unpredictability of the women's game, the story of the tournament so far has been the top players dominating, and it was the same on Thursday.
Of the first eight matches, all were won by seeds, with Karolina Pliskova and Anastasija Sevastova the only ones to drop a set - the latter doing well to fight off the challenge of exciting Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu.
More to follow...
