The Latest: Serena says Venus should be back at Aussie Open
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) The latest Wednesday from the Australian Open (all times local):
3:57 p.m.
As Venus Williams slowly walked off court following her loss to Britain's Johanna Konta on Tuesday, Australian fans may have wondered whether she'd be back for her 17th Australian Open next year.
Williams skipped her post-match news conference, incurring a $5,000 fine.
Her sister, Serena, didn't offer many clues after her second-round win over Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday.
''I don't really know,'' Serena said. ''I would assume (Venus will be back). She's never mentioned anything about not being here, not competing.''
The 35-year-old Venus was the oldest woman in this year's Australian Open field. She's also just two Grand Slams shy of tying the record for the most-ever majors played by a woman - 71, set by American Amy Frazier.
One thing for sure: the Williams sisters aren't playing doubles, so that will be the last sighting of Venus this year.
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3:50 p.m.
Roger Federer has moved into the third round at the Australian Open with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 win over Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Federer improved his career record against the Ukrainian player to 3-0 without facing a break point in the 93-minute match.
Bright sunshine has returned to Melbourne Park and the roofs on all three arenas are open after late-morning rain forced about an hour-long delay to the start of play on outdoor courts.
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1:56 p.m.
Serena Williams has swiftly moved through to the third round at Melbourne Park with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei in exactly one hour.
Williams has only fallen in the second round of a Grand Slam tournament twice in her career - losing to her sister Venus in her Australian Open debut in 1998, and being beaten by Garbine Muguruza at the 2014 French Open.
Williams had 26 winners, including seven aces in the match. She even hit one shot around the post in the match, which she said afterward was the first in her career. ''Yay, never too late,'' she said.
Williams' next opponent will be an 18-year-old - she'll face the winner of the match between Russia's Daria Kasatkina and Croatia's Ana Konjuh, who were both born the year before Williams' first Australian Open.
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1:10 p.m.
Kei Nishikori reached the third round of the Australian Open for the sixth consecutive year, beating Austin Krajicek 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 on Margaret Court Arena.
The No. 7-seeded Nishikori, a two-time quarterfinalist here, dropped serve just once when he was serving for the second set but recovered to win a tight tiebreaker.
Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open finalist, is working with 1989 French Open winner Michael Chang as coach and says the extra attention to detail is good for his game.
''It's always great support from Michael. That's why I've been playing really well,'' Nishikori said. ''He's a very nice guy outside of the court - on the court he's very tough.''
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12:56 p.m.
Kateryna Bondarenko notched one of her biggest wins since coming out of retirement after having a baby in 2013, beating two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 7-5 in the second round at Melbourne Park.
The 92nd-ranked Bondarenko returned to the tour in 2014 and had failed to get through qualifying at four majors before making the main draw at last year's U.S. Open.
''I retired because I had a baby and I didn't really think to come back,'' the Ukrainian said after the match. ''Suddenly I missed tennis so much so I decide to come back and compete again.''
Bondarenko, who has a daughter, Karin, is one of three mothers in the Australian Open singles draw, along with Tatjana Maria of Germany and Evgeniya Rodina of Russia.
Kuznetsova, the 23rd seed, beat No. 2-ranked Simona Halep last week en route to winning the Sydney International title.
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12:35 p.m.
Venus Williams has been fined $5,000 by tournament organizers for skipping a news conference after her first-round exit at the Australian Open.
The Australian Open announced the fine Wednesday after a meeting by the committee of Grand Slam supervisors.
On Tuesday, No. 8-seeded Williams trudged off Rod Laver Arena after her surprising 6-4, 6-3 loss to Johanna Konta, a British player making her debut in the Grand Slam's main draw.
The $5,000 fine is the highest a female player has faced for skipping a mandatory news conference, and the second highest since Marat Safin was fined $10,000 at the 2001 French Open.
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12:24 p.m.
Maria Sharapova became the first player to advance to the third round at the Australian Open when she beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-2, 6-1.
Sharapova's match on Rod Laver Arena was one of only three that began on schedule - the other two were also in stadiums with covered roofs - after light rain delayed play for just over an hour on outside courts.
The fifth-seeded Sharapova's only stumbles came when she her had her service broken twice in the opening set, including when she held two set points while serving at 5-1.
Sharapova, who won the title here in 2008 and has reached three other finals, completed the win in 71 minutes and will next play either Lauren Davis of the U.S. or Magadalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.
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11:07 a.m.
Light rain is falling at Melbourne Park, delaying the start of play on side courts at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Tournament officials said play would not start on those courts until at least 11:30 a.m. Ball boys and girls were sponging the courts off.
Melbourne Park has three stadiums with retractable roofs - Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and Hisense Arena. Play began as scheduled on those courts, including the opening match on Rod Laver between fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova and Aliaksandra Sasnovich.