Federer, other seeds restore order on Day 3 of Australian Open

Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer will play in the third round of the Australian Open for the 17th straight occasion after brushing aside tricky second-round opponent Alexandr Dolgopolov.

The evergreen 34-year-old, didn't give Dolgopolov - who broke onto the world scene with run to the Australian Open quarter-finals in 2011 - a look in, denying the Ukrainian a single break point opportunity in the 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win.

Given Federer's Grand Slam pedigree, the Swiss maestro was hardly impressed when informed of the streak - instead more pleased to have simple navigated his way past Dolgopolov.

"It's the least I expect, to be in the third round of a Slam, obviously," Federer told reporters on Day 3 of the Australian Open.

"So I'm pumped up, I'm playing well, I'm feeling good."

Federer said he wasn't about to get ahead of himself, after the all-time great fell to Italian Andreas Seppi at the third-round hurdle of last year's Australian Open.

"There's always a danger - last year (the third round) was the end for me. So I hope to go further," Federer said.

The world number three was on and off Rod Laver Arena (RLA) in under two hours, wrapping up the day session on center court well before 4 p.m. local time.

Searching for his first Australian Open title in five years, Federer was untroubled by the Dolgopolov's unorthodox tactics.

However, Federer said he had a lot of respect for the 27-year-old, and had earmarked the match as a potential minefield when the draw was released late last week.

"I'm a big fan of his game. He's explosive, he's got a great return - especially on the second serve - he's got all the shots," he said.

"I'm very pleased with this win. I think it's a tough second round. He, in my opinion, is better than a lot of the guys who are ranked ahead of him.

"I was not worried about the match, but I had a lot of respect for him."

On Wednesday, the Australian Open's seeded stars restored order after yesterday mass exodus of eight protected players, including 14-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal and women's world number two Simona Halep.

First up on RLA, 5-seed Maria Sharapova blitzed by Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-1. Not long after, Sharapova's long-time nemesis Serena Williams turned in a equally dominant 6-1, 6-2 dressing down of Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei.

In the men's draw, Japanese roadrunner Kei Nishikori slowly wore down American opponent - and close friend - Austin Krajicek, recording another straight sets win (6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3).

Men's six-seed Tomas Berdych, meanwhile, continued to fly under the radar, making light work of Bosnian Mirza Basic 6-4, 6-0, 6-3.

The only seed not to move on was Svetlana Kuznetsova, a former world number two, who had an off-day against Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko.

Before today's 6-1, 7-5 loss, the Russian had triumphed in all three of their previous meetings. But on a day that will be remembered for the continuation of a streak, this one went by the wayside.

Earlier, steady rain halted the start of play on the outside courts. But true to Melbourne's comical four-seasons-in-one-day climate, the sun quickly dried out the soggy tennis precinct with all courts in full swing after midday. Endit