Peng Shuai advances to last 16 in Australian Open

China's Peng Shuai is through to the next round, after a straight sets win over Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova in straight sets. Peng was able to grab a 7-6, 6-3 win to advance to the round of 16.

Meanwhile, former two-time champion Victoria Azarenka showed she was back in top form at the Australian Open after an injury-blighted season, upsetting eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-2 to reach the third round. Azarenka, in yellow, won the eight-shot rally with a volley at the net to break serve 5-4. She then went on to the take the first set 6-4. The Belarusian was too powerful for the Dane, bullying her from the baseline to wrap up the match in 98 minutes.

The two-time champion broke Wozniacki twice in the second set and clobbered 31 winners in the match to send an ominous warning to her rivals in the women's draw. She advances to play Czech 26th seed Barbora Strycova in the next round. To celebrate the victory, Azarenka danced, to the delight of the crowd.

Home favourite and 20th seed Samantha Stosur was knocked out by American Coco Vandeweghe. Stosur won the US Open in 20-11 and finished runner-up at the French Open in 20-10, but her struggles at her home Grand Slam continue. Losing the first set 6-4, Stosur then won the rally in the fifth game of the second. But it was the American who finally sealed victory by taking the second set 6-4 in an hour and 17 minutes. Stosur's best Australian Open performance was a fourth round appearance in 2006 and 20-10.

On the men's side, Ninth seed David Ferrer came from a set down to dispatch Ukraine's Sergiy Stak-hovsky 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. The two-time semi-finalist in Melbourne, will play 18th seed Gilles Simon in the third round.

17th seed Gael Monfils was dumped out of the tournament after a five set epic with Poland's Jerzy Janowicz. Janowicz trailed two sets to one, but came storming back to take a 6-4, 1-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory in three hours and seven minutes. Janowicz has never been past the third round in the Australian Open and will be looking to go beyond that when he meets Feliciano Lopez next.

Also on Thursday, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic blasted his way into the third round with a straight sets demolition of Russian Andrey Kuz-netsov. Fourth seed Stan Wawrinka beat Marius Copil of Romania in straight sets. American John Isner defeated Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria in four sets.

On the women's side, Venus Williams beat compatriot Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-3. Last year's runner up Dominika Cibulkova thrashed Tsvetlana Piron-kova of Bulgaria. Timea Bacsinszky from Switzerland beat Anna Tatish-vili.