Serena Williams Earns Straight-Sets Win over Eugenie Bouchard at Australian Open

Serena Williams swept aside Eugenie Bouchard 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday as she advanced to the third round of the 2019 Australian Open in Melbourne.

The 37-year-old needed just 70 minutes to beat her opponent at the Rod Laver Arena.

Bouchard took just two games off Williams when they last met back in 2014, and it looked like it could be a similar scenario on Thursday as the American raced to 3-0 lead.

Consecutive double-faults from Bouchard in the opening game saw her broken immediately, and Williams quickly consolidated it with a hold to love, before another double-fault and an unforced error gave the 23-time Grand Slam champion another break soon after.

Metro's George Bellshaw was impressed with Williams:

The Canadian showed some resilience, though, as she managed to grab a break back despite one shot from Williams finding the line after hitting the net chord twice.

The pair exchanged further breaks in a rollercoaster end to the set:

Williams saw out the set with a hold, with Bouchard having failed to hold serve once.

The 24-year-old finally managed to do so at the start of the second set, but not before saving three break points.

With Williams not quite maintaining the same level as she did in the opener, the start of the second set was much tighter, and Bouchard managed to hold again to take a 2-1 lead.

The veteran stepped it up a notch in response, however, as she rattled off five matches in succession to progress, helped by another double-fault at a key moment from Bouchard.