Melbourne, January 17:

The early jitters are over. Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Amelie Mauresmo and Serena Williams all posted straight-set wins to advance to the third round of the Australian Open today.

Roddick and Williams set up showdowns with tough opponents. Roddick beat Frenchman Marc Gicquel, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-4 and next faces 2005 Australian Open champion Marat Safin. Safin ralied to oust Dudi Sela of Israel 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-0.

Defending woman’s champion Mauresmo, seeded second, beat Olga Poutchkova 6-2, 6-2 and next faces Eva Birnerova.

Williams, who won the last of her seven Grand Slam titles here in 2005, rallied from 1-4 in the tiebreaker in her 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over Luxembourg’s Anne Kremer. Williams, a two-time champion here, will play No 5 Nadia Petrova.

Top-ranked Federer ripped six forehand winners in the first three games while beating Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Federer is seeking his 10th Grand Slam title and third in a row. Federer next meets Mikhail Youzhny after the Russian beat Lu Yen-hsen of Taiwan 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.

Thailand’s Danai Udomchoke upset Juan Carlos Ferrero to take former world No 1 out of the equation. A former Australian Open champion also tumbled, with 2002 winner Thomas Johansson losing to David Ferrer. Australia wildcard entry Wayne Arthurs beat American qualifier Zach Fleishman. Other men’s winners included No 9 Mario Ancic, No 18 Richard Gasquet, No 20 Radek Stepanek and No 22 Dominik Hrbaty. But last year’s finalist Marcos Baghdatis was dumped out by Frenchman Gael Monfils, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 2-6, 6-0.

Advancing on the women’s side were former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, along with Petrova, Elena Dementieva, Patty Schnyder, Dinara Safina, Jelena Jankovic, Daniela Hantuchova, Shahar Peer, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Li Na of China, Tatiana Golovin, Katarina Srebotnik, Vera Zvonareva and Maria Kirilenko. Ai Sugiyama lost to Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus.