Tennis news - Nine in a row as defending champion Caroline Wozniacki beats Johanna Larsson

ByCarrie Dunn

Updated 16/01/2019 at 14:48 GMT

Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki moved into the Australian Open third round as she beat Sweden's Johanna Larsson in a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 victory.

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It took her just over an hour to secure her straight-sets win - and a third-round clash against Maria Sharapova.

Wozniacki made just 12 unforced errors in her second round match against a player who constantly switched up her tactics in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to break down the brick wall defence of her higher-ranked opponent.

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Although the Dane made a slow start to the match, dropping a service game, she found her rhythm eventually to move to a quick 5-1 lead before serving out the set to love.

But she was shaken at the start of the second set, when she failed to break the Larsson serve despite a series of opportunities. Holding serve reassured her and she completed a dominant victory.

Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki comfortably through

"I thought it was a fine match," Wozniacki said afterwards.

"I think she stepped it up a little bit in the second set. I think I served well."

With additional reporting from agencies

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