Tennis:Venus Williams hobbled while Caroline Wozniacki and Justine Henin cantered but all three reached the third round of an Australian Open where upsets continue to be thin on the ground.
Williams, returning to action here for the first time since last year's US Open, was severely hampered by what appeared to be a groin problem but still managed to scramble a 6-7 6-0 6-4 victory over world number 97 Sandra Zahlavova.
The seven-time grand slam winner took a medical timeout after losing the first set tiebreak and then gritted her teeth and summoned up her wealth of experience to grind out a victory in a shade over three hours.
Top women's seed Wozniacki earlier looked in fine fettle as she took just 58 minutes to overpower American Vania King 6-1 6-0, continuing an impressive start to her attempt to vindicate her number one ranking with a first grand slam title.
Wozniacki's win set up a third round opportunity to avenge her loss last week in Sydney to Slovakia's Dominika Cibulova, who advanced with a 6-1 4-6 6-2 win over Italian Alberta Brianti.
Henin was shaking hands with the umpire on Rod Laver Arena moments after Wozniacki clinched her win, having put Elena Baltacha to the sword 6-1 6-3.
Seeded a lowly 11th, Henin was still feeling the elbow injury that kept her out of the game for six months last year and said the unseasonably low temperatures had not helped.
Twice grand slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova, a 6-1 6-4 winner over Dutch qualifier Arantxa Rus, stands in Henin's path to the fourth round.
France's 15th seed Marion Bartoli was beaten 3-6 6-3 6-0 by Vesna Manasieva of Russia but 2009 champion Maria Sharapova survived an early scare to rally to a 7-6 6-3 victory over Virginie Razzano in another Franco-Russian encounter.
In the men's draw, former world number five Tommy Robredo also registered something of an upset with a 1-6 6-3 6-3 6-3 victory over American 16th seed Mardy Fish.
Robredo's fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco faced an early exit but made a great escape by coming back from two sets down and saving a match point in the fourth set on his way to a 2-6 4-6 6-4 7-6 6-0 win over Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.
Thomas Berdych also had to fight back after losing the first set to German Philipp Kohlschreiber but the sixth seeded Czech found his range and ran out a comfortable 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4 winner.
Defending champion Roger Federer makes his second appearance of the tournament against Frenchman Gilles Simon in the evening session on Rod Laver Arena.