Mauresmo, Serena ready for second-round action at Oz Open

Jan 16, 2007, 20:14 GMT

Melbourne, Australia - Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo of France and two-time winner Serena Williams of the United States will play their second-round matches Wednesday at the Australian Open.

The second-seeded and former world No. 1 Mauresmo will battle Russian Olga Poutchkova, while an unseeded Williams will face Luxembourg's Anne Kremer. The two-time Grand Slam champion Mauresmo topped Belgian star Justine Henin- Hardenne in last year's Aussie Open and Wimbledon finals and was the runner-up here in Melbourne in 1999. The 81st-ranked Williams is a seven-time major titlist who prevailed in Melbourne in 2003 and 2005.

Day-3 second-round matches will also come for third-seeded French Open runner- up Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, fifth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova, seventh- seeded Russian Elena Dementieva and 10th-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova. The 2004 U.S. Open Kuznetsova will tangle with Aussie favorite Monique Adamczak.

Oppressive heat delayed opening-round action here on Tuesday, forcing the postponement of 12 matches, including ones for eighth-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder and ninth-seeded Russian Dinara Safina, as both women will open their fortnight here on Wednesday.

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