Federer easily advances

Svetlana Kuznetsova had little trouble dismissing Monique Adamczak.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Defending champion Roger Federer advanced to the third round of the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory today over Jonas Bjorkman.
It was Federer's second lopsided win over Bjorkman in the last three Grand Slam tournaments.
He beat the 34-year-old Swede in straight sets in the Wimbledon semifinals last year as a warmup to beating Rafael Nadal in the final.
Bjorkman relied on drops and some improvised shotmaking to work Federer around, but it rarely worked consistently in the match that lasted 1 hour, 35 minutes.
Federer maintained his record of never dropping a set against Bjorkman.
"Jonas is a great guy, he always puts up a good fight," said Federer, who is chasing a 10th Grand Slam title. "Today it went my way, I'm playing pretty well right now."
The heat that forced dozens of matches to be delayed until after sundown on Tuesday, had relented by this morning, with matches on all courts starting on time in temperatures around 90 degrees.
It was about 10 degrees cooler in overcast conditions 2 hours later when the Federer-Bjorkman matched began.
Women
Former U.S. Open women's champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, the No. 3 seed, beat Monique Adamczak of Australia 6-2, 6-1 in the first match at Rod Laver Arena, where the roof was reopened after being closed for all but one match Tuesday.
Jelena Jankovic continued her solid start to the year. The No. 11 seed followed up a title and a finals appearance by advancing to the third round here with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Virginia Ruano Pascual.
The 12 women's first-round matches held over from Tuesday were completed early today, with No. 8 Patty Schnyder, No. 9 Dinara Safina, No. 15 Daniela Hantuchova, No. 17 Anna-Lena Groenefeld and No. 19 Li Na of China all advancing.
Sharapova survives scare
Soaked with sweat, and delusional by her own admission, top-seeded Maria Sharapova had come within two points of a first-round exit at the Australian Open.
When it was announced the roof would be closed over Rod Laver Arena after her match, Sharapova clapped her hands above her head and raised her right thumb to applaud the decision.
Asked after her 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 win Tuesday over Camille Pin if it was hot enough, Sharapova replied: "You're not kidding."
"It's inhumanly possible to play three hours in that kind of heat," she said. "I don't think our bodies were made to do that -- I was so delusional I couldn't think."
Not long after Sharapova trudged off to see a doctor, rehydrate and take a cold bath while the temperature soared above 104 degrees, Nadal strolled onto a center court shielded by the retractable roof and cooled by air conditioning.
Sharapova and Nadal represented both ends of the spectrum as heat became the story of the day in Melbourne on Tuesday, forcing two players to give up rather than pass out and delaying the start of dozens of matches until after sundown.
Heatwave
On Tuesday, it was too hot midway through the Sharapova-Pin match for other matches to be started on outdoor courts. Sharapova needed a medical timeout for cramps in the last set, an ice vest over her neck at every change of ends and every ounce of tenacity she could muster to beat the Frenchwoman who had made the second round only twice in 15 majors.
Sharapova blew a 5-0 lead and three match points in the third set, and acknowledged later: "I could be feeling a lot worse if I had lost the match."
Eighth-seeded David Nalbandian used the heat to his advantage, coming back from two sets and a break down as Janko Tipsarevic wilted. Tipsarevic eventually retired with heat exhaustion with Nalbandian leading 6-7 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-0, 2-1.
Nalbandian said the conditions were disgusting, and unfair for those who were on court and had to continue playing when the Extreme Heat Policy was enforced.
Nadal's 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2 win over Robert Kendrick went ahead after the roof was closed.
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