Venus Williams advances at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams beat Alize Cornet of France 6-3, 6-3 Wednesday to advance to a third-round match against Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open.

The 25th-seeded Williams took advantage of a double-fault on set point by Cornet to take the lead, then fought back from a service break down in the second set to win in 1 hour, 17 minutes.

Sharapova, last year's runner-up, has not dropped a game in posting double-bagel wins over her opponents in the first two rounds, including Misaki Do of Japan on Wednesday.