Australian Open 2016: Wednesday Results, Highlights, Scores Recap from Melbourne

After a Day 2 that was filled with upsets, Day 3 at the Australian Open largely stuck to the script, as most of the top players in the men's and women's draws managed to advance to the third round.

Every seeded player in action on the men's side was victorious Wednesday, including No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Roger Federer, both of whom kept their title hopes alive with straight-set performances.

No. 1 Serena Williams and No. 5 Maria Sharapova cruised to dominant wins, but the women's bracket wasn't immune to upsets, as No. 6 Petra Kvitova was bounced from the tournament by Aussie Daria Gavrilova in front of a raucous crowd at Margaret Court Arena.

With Day 3 officially in the books, here is a rundown of the notable men's and women's singles results, along with further analysis regarding Wednesday's biggest storylines in Melbourne.

Day 3 Men's Singles Results

Round	Winning Player	Losing Player	Score
2	(1) Novak Djokovic	Quentin Halys	6-1, 6-2, 7-6(3)
2	(3) Roger Federer	Alexandr Dolgopolov	6-3, 7-5, 6-1
2	(7) Kei Nishikori	Austin Krajicek	6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3
2	(9) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	Omar Jasika	7-5, 6-1, 6-4
2	(6) Tomas Berdych	Mirza Basic	6-4, 6-0, 6-3
2	(12) Marin Cilic	Albert Ramos-Vinolas	6-4, 6-3, 7-6(4)
2	(15) David Goffin	Damir Dzumhur	6-4, 0-6, 6-4, 6-2
2	(29) Nick Kyrgios	Pablo Cuevas	6-4, 7-5, 7-6(2)
2	(28) Andreas Seppi	Denis Kudla	7-5, 6-4, 6-4
2	(14) Gilles Simon	Evgeny Donskoy	6-3, 5-7, 7-6(1), 4-6, 7-5
2	(19) Dominic Thiem	Nicolas Almagro	6-3, 6-1, 6-3
2	(27) Grigor Dimitrov	Marco Trungelliti	6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
2	(26) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez	Daniel Brands	4-6, 6-1, 7-6(0), 6-3
2	(24) Roberto Bautista-Agut	Dusan Lajovic	4-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1

Day 3 Women's Singles Results

Round	Winning Player	Losing Player	Score
2	(1) Serena Williams	Su-Wei Hsieh	6-1, 6-2
2	(5) Maria Sharapova	Aliaksandra Sasnovich	6-2, 6-1
2	(4) Agnieszka Radwanska	Eugenie Bouchard	6-4, 6-2
2	Daria Gavrilova	(6) Petra Kvitova	6-4, 6-4
2	(12) Belinda Bencic	Timea Babos	6-3, 6-3
2	(10) Carla Suarez Navarro	Maria Sakkari	6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2
2	Kateryna Bondarenko	(23) Svetlana Kuznetsova	6-1, 7-5
2	(13) Roberta Vinci	Irina Falconi	6-2, 6-3
2	(28) Kristina Mladenovic	Nicole Gibbs	6-1, 7-6(4)

Djokovic and Federer Roll Past 2nd Round

Vincent Thian/Associated Press

Arguably the top two contenders in the men's draw were in action Wednesday, and they didn't disappoint, as both Djokovic and Federer made quick work of their opponents.

Djoker took down France's Quentin Halys 6-1, 6-2, 7-6(3) in a match that the Serb essentially dominated from start to finish despite the third-set tiebreak.

Such performances have been commonplace for Nole as of late, as evidenced by the fact that he has now taken 22 consecutive sets, according to Christopher Clarey of the New York Times:

The fact that Halys was even able to force a tiebreak was a major accomplishment, and it was one that Djokovic applauded after the match, per the Australian Open's official Twitter account:

With the win, Djokovic moves on to face No. 28 Andreas Seppi in what should be a much stiffer challenge, but it is difficult to imagine the world's top player truly getting challenged until the semifinals at the earliest.

That challenge would potentially come in the form of Federer, who scored a decisive 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 victory over a tricky opponent in Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov.

The four-time Aussie Open and 17-time Grand Slam champion never gave Dolgopolov a chance, as he put on a serving clinic, according to Craig O'Shannessy of the New York Times:

Fed won a ridiculous 88 percent of his first-serve points, got his first serve in 68 percent of the time and burned Dolgopolov with 25 aces.

Per ATPWorldTour.com, he made a conscious effort to fine-tune his serve leading up to the 2016 season's first major tournament.

"I think it's a very important part of the game," Federer said. "I think everybody should work on it, to be honest. It's the only shot that we can actually really control. The rest we are reacting to. I thought today I did serve very well."

Provided Federer continues to serve like he did Wednesday, a semifinal clash with Djokovic seems likely.

The Swiss superstar must first get past a player who is often compared to him, though, in the form of No. 27 Grigor Dimitrov.

While Dimitrov could pose a stiff test in the third round, Federer currently looks capable of beating anyone in the world, including Djokovic.

Serena and Sharapova Cruise in Straight Sets

Vincent Thian/Associated Press

Most figured Serena and Sharapova were on a collision course for the quarterfinals when the Australian Open draw came out, and Wednesday's results did little to change that notion.

Williams was dominant once again in a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan. It took the world's No. 1 female player just an hour to dispatch the underdog, and she was quite pleased with her performance afterward:

According to WTATennis.com, Serena felt as though facing a crafty player of Hsieh's ilk was helpful in terms of preparing her for what lies ahead.

"She's definitely a tricky opponent," she said. "It was a good matchup for me to play someone who can hit any shot at any time, and anywhere on the court. I kind of needed that; there've been some things I worked on over the offseason, so it worked out for me today."

While Serena can't afford to take anything for granted after her shocking loss to Roberta Vinci at last year's U.S. Open, it is tough to imagine her having much trouble in the next two rounds with matchups against Daria Kasatkina and either Yulia Putintseva or Margarita Gasparyan on tap.

It can be argued that a quarterfinal clash with Sharapova wouldn't be difficult for Serena either since she has so thoroughly dominated the Russian in recent years, but the No. 5 seed looked excellent in her victory on Day 3.

Sharapova made quick work of Belarus' Aliaksandra Sasnovich on Wednesday in a 6-2, 6-1 win and cemented her status as one of the top contenders to win the title outside of Williams.

Sharapova is often a difficult player to predict since she is seemingly just as likely to get upset in the opening rounds as she is to make a run to the final at Grand Slam tournaments, but she was far and away the better player in her second-round match.

With everything working for her, she appeared to be satisfied with her form entering the third round of the tourney:

One can only assume that Sharapova has an eye toward Serena in the quarters, but her next two matches could prove difficult. If she is able to get past American Lauren Davis in the third round, a fourth-round clash against the immensely talented No. 12 seed Belinda Bencic could be on tap.

There is no question that Sharapova received a tough-luck draw, but if the five-time Grand Slam champion can continue to repeat Wednesday's performance, she is a definite threat to go the distance.

Kvitova Bows Out to Gavrilova

Aaron Favila/Associated Press

While chalk largely ruled Day 3 at the Australian Open, there was one notable upset on the women's side, with Gavrilova shocking Kvitova by a 6-4, 6-4 score.

Kvitova was heavily favored as a former Australian Open semifinalist and two-time Wimbledon champion, but the powerful Czech was beaten at her own game by the only Aussie woman left in the women's draw.

While Kvitova won a mere 51 percent of her first-serve points, Gavrilova won 73 percent of her own and showed that he had the power to compete with one of the heaviest hitters on tour, according to Nick McCarvel of USA Today:

In addition to that, Kvitova beat herself in a lot of ways, as evidenced by her 35 unforced errors in the match. 

Gavrilova may have been aided by the partisan crowd, which was heavily in her corner after the rest of the Aussie women in the field were bounced in the opening round.

Per the Australian Open on Twitter, the closing moments of the match weren't easy for Gavrilova, but she found a way to work through them and secure the victory:

With Wednesday's win, she busted her part of the draw wide open. A third-round clash with No. 28 Kristina Mladenovic and a potential fourth-round meeting with No. 10 Carla Suarez Navarro won't be easy, but her confidence is likely through the roof after beating a player of Kvitova's caliber.

No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska is the favorite to reach the semifinals in that quarter of the draw; however, Gavrilova has all the makings of a dark horse capable of going on a magical run with the Aussie fans behind her.

The 21-year-old is now in uncharted territory with her first third-round appearance at a Grand Slam, but Wednesday's showing suggests there is plenty more left in the tank.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.