Sixth seed Elina Svitolina and seventh-seeded Karolina Pliskova kept their dreams of a maiden Grand Slam title alive Thursday ahead of 23-time major winner Serena Williams swinging back into Australian Open action.
Despite being ranked in the top 10, neither has progressed further than the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park.
Self-assured Svitolina dismantled Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-1 to make the third round, while Pliskova woke up after losing the first set to race past Madison Brengle 4-6 6-1 6-0.
Williams is in action later against Eugenie Bouchard, while six-time winner Novak Djokovic turns back the clock in a night match with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Rod Laver Arena.
World number one Simona Halep, who narrowly survived a first-round scare, is also back on court against American Sofia Kenin, who won the warm-up Hobart International and is on a six-match win streak.
Ukraine's Svitolina scored her biggest career win by clinching the WTA Finals in Singapore last October, and is
