Australian Open: Caroline Wozniacki continues title defence with win over Johanna Larsson

Melbourne [Australia], Jan 16 (ANI): Defending Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki on Wednesday made an easy task of Swedish veteran Johanna Larsson to continue her quest for the straight second title here at the Margaret Court Arena.
The 28-year-old registered a decisive 6-1, 6-3 victory over her Swedish counterpart to win her second round clash of the ongoing tournament that lasted 66 minutes.
The opening set was a complete cakewalk for the Denmark player as she did not break much sweat to get past Larsson. Grabbing the first break point of the match, she maintained a healthy 5-1 lead in the set and eventually sealed the game for herself.
Larsson tried to overcome the opening set loss as she came back hard on her opponent. She saved three break points in the earlier stage to step ahead of Wozniacki but the Denmark player remained undaunted and broke the serve two games later to eventually emerge victorious.
Up next, Wozniacki could face Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova if she managed to get past Rebecca Peterson in their second round clash, later today.
In other clashes, home favourite Ashleigh Barty cemented her spot into the Australian Open third round after a 6-2, 6-3 win over Wang Yafan of China. Number five seed Sloane Stephens also advanced into the third round after getting past Timea Babos of Hungary 6-3, 6-1. (ANI)