Germany's Kerber into Australian Open 2nd round

No. 5 Angelique Kerber could be headed for a fourth-round showdown with No. 11 Marion Bartoli.

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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Angelique Kerber has defeated Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the second round of the Australian Open.

The fifth-seeded Kerber, who turns 25 on Friday, broke her 127th-ranked opponent five times to take the match in 77 minutes.

Kerber had a breakthrough year in 2012, reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon and winning two titles to become the first German woman to finish in the year-end top five rankings since Steffi Graf in 1996.

Kerber's best result in Melbourne is reaching the third round in 2010 and 2012.

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