Zvonareva races into second round

MELBOURNE: Second seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia raced into the second round of the Australian Open when she demolished Austria's Sybille Bammer 6-2, 6-1 here on Tuesday.

The world number two dropped her first service game but was barely troubled thereafter as she downed the Austrian in just 59 minutes.

After some fancied players got off to a slow start on Monday, the 26-year-old Zvonareva stamped her authority on the year's opening Grand Slam with her dominant display.

She broke Bammer five times throughout the match, the power and accuracy of her groundstrokes putting the Austrian under constant pressure.

Like top seed Caroline Wozniacki, Zvonareva has come under extra scrutiny after reaching a world ranking of number two without winning a Grand Slam.

Zvonareva was a finalist at the US Open and Wimbledon in 2010 but is yet to take that last step. She said her experiences last year had put her in good stead for the season's first major.

"When you come on the tour sometimes things are happening very easy," she said. "But you find after a few years on the tour you really learn a lot about yourself and you know that you've got to work hard to get there.

"It definitely was a great experience for me last year."

Zvonareva will play Bojana Jovanovski in the next round after the Croatian beat Taiwan's Chang Kai-Chen 7-5, 6-1.