World No 1 Azarenka through

World No 1 Azarenka through London - Agencies World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka advanced to the third round of the US Open on yesterday by defeating Belgian qualifier Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 6-2 in only 65 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Reigning Australian Open champion Azarenka, who has reached the last eight in every Grand Slam event except the US Open, will next face Chinese 28th seed Zheng Jie, who beat Slovakian qualifier Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-1. The 23-year-old from Belarus, whose 26-match win streak to begin the season was the best women's start since 1997, seeks her 13th career title and fifth trophy of the year on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts. “I would love to play for the title,” Azarenka said. “It’s a long way. It's just the second round now.” Trying to break a trend that has seen women’s top seeds fail to take titles at the past seven Grand Slams, Azarenka could be dethroned from the top ranking by Agnieszka Radwanska or Maria Sharapova if she fails to make the final. Azarenka, who took a singles bronze medal at the London Olympics, broke 133rd-ranked Flipkens in the third and seventh games and held to claim the first set in 27 minutes. Azarenka broke again in the fifth and seventh game of the second set and held serve to close out the match, pumping her right fist in celebration after a winner on match point after her 50th victory of the season. “I’m proud of everything I have achieved this season,” she said. “It has been a great year.” Azarenka handled a morning curtain call as well as she had a late-night match on day one. “It just depends on how I sleep,” she said. “The first match was late at night. I adjusted pretty good. It doesn’t matter what time I play. It matters how well I play on the court.” Russian 19th seed Nadia Petrova reached the third round in only 57 minutes with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Romania's Simona Halep. Next for Petrova will be either Czech 15th seed Lucie Safarova or Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak. And US wildcard Mallory Burdette booked her place in the third round with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Czech Lucie Hradecka. She could face Sharapova next. Three-time US Open champion Kim Clijsters, playing her farewell event, risks her 22-match US Open win streak against Britain's Laura Robson in another second-round match. Hard-serving John Isner, the fortnight's top hope to end a nine-year US men's Grand Slam title drought as the ninth seed, will begin his quest against Belgian Xavier Malisse. Tuesday, defending champion Novak Djokovic and three-times winner Serena Williams each dropped just two games against bewildered opponents, leading a procession of top seeds into the second round of the year’s final grand slam. Joining Djokovic in the winner’s circle at Flushing Meadows were number five Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, number six Tomas Berdych, and former champion Andy Roddick, the 20th seed. On the women's side, former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki was a first round casualty while second seed Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 6 Angelique Kerber advanced easily. Djokovic took just an hour and 13 minutes to blitz Italy's Paolo Lorenzi 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 in his first-round match under the lights on a cool evening at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The charismatic Serb’s win was so one-sided that it was difficult to tell if the 2011 US Open champion was that good or Lorenzi had perhaps the worst evening of his life on a tennis court. “My game was great from the start to the end,” said the second seeded Djokovic, who won three of four majors last year. “It’s also important for me to try to be as economical with the time I spend on the court as possible, but obviously not underestimating any opponent.” “I played really focused, tried to get to the net also. It was great all in all.” The 69th-ranked Lorenzi said he had trouble with the blustery conditions before a sell-out crowd of nearly 24,000 at cavernous Ashe Stadium. “I had never played on the center court and there was a lot of wind,” he said. “So sometimes I’d miss an easy ball because the ball was flying a lot. But he’s playing so good. I tried my best.” Fourth-seeded Williams followed Djokovic on the court and produced a 6-1, 6-1 rout of 75th-ranked American Coco Vandeweghe, who committed 22 errors and produced only nine winners against the 30-year-old, 14-times grand slam champion. Williams said the conditions were tough on both players. World No. 2 Radwanska of Poland showed no signs of a shoulder injury that forced her out of the New Haven tournament last week as she routed 91st-ranked Nina Bratchikova 6-1, 6-1. Hampered by a knee problem, eighth-seeded Wozniacki never broke the serve of world No. 96 Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania and lost 6-2, 6-2. Now ranked No. 46, Venus said she yearned to get back into the world top 10 but conceded "it never happens the way you want it to." Like Venus, Roddick is trying to re-capture the form that saw him win the U.S. Open in 2003. On Tuesday, he cruised past 21-year-old American qualifier Rhyne Williams 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Roddick said "the game has gotten significantly better" than when he won the title. "I had a massive serve at 135 (mph), and this kid today was hitting them that big," he said with a smile.