MELBOURNE, Jan 22: Statuesque Venus Williams was sent crashing to earth at the Australian Open on Thursday, the seven-time Grand Slam champion’s second-round defeat creating the first major shock of the 2009 tournament.

The sixth seed was felled by free-hitting Spanish newcomer Carla Suarez Navarro 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 under floodlights, hours after sister Serena had survived a tricky encounter to advance.

“She was super consistent and aggressive and just went for her shots,” Venus acknowledged. “We haven’t quite figured out exactly which areas went wrong. But I definitely have to credit her.

“I don’t believe in jinxes because I don’t believe in witches or warlocks or magical creatures and stuff,” she added when asked if she was frustrated at another early exit here after her first round loss in 2006.

Serena’s champion’s mentality lifted her to the third round despite a distinctly lukewarm performance.

Facing Argentine Gisela Dulko, three-time champion Serena won the first set comfortably enough but had to overcome 3-0 and 5-2 deficits in the second to secure a 6-3, 7-5 victory in 110 minutes.

“I was able to get through it not playing my best... that’s how I would sum it up,” Serena said. “Lots and lots and lots and lots of room for improvement. Today I was at a ‘D-minus’ but it is good that I won.”

Serena meets China’s Peng Shuai next.

Men’s top seed Rafael Nadal and pre-tournament favourite Andy Murray were both clinical and combative in straightforward victories.

Nadal thumped Croatia’s Roko Karanusic 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, taking only 97 minutes to destroy his opponent.

“I won without any problems today, so that was good,” the world No 1 smiled.

Next for him is former world No 2 Tommy Haas.

“The first big opponent, I think,” Nadal said. “It is gonna be a very good test to see how I am. I am going to have to play very well if I want have chances to win, no?”

Fourth-seeded Briton Murray was explosive on Rod Laver Arena, pummelling Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in a performance which included 37 clean winners.

“I felt like once I got ahead I could settle down,” Murray said. “To come through in straight sets is obviously important. It was a good test to have at this stage in the tournament.”

Last year’s runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga completed a great day for French tennis when he beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 6-2.

Tsonga showed no signs of the back injury that forced him to pull out of a warm-up event in Sydney last week as he wore down his opponent.

It has been 81 years since a Frenchman won the Australian Open singles title but five Frenchmen are through to the third round this year. Fabrice Santoro, the oldest man in the tournament, progressed on Wednesday, while Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils also won on Thursday.

Women’s fourth seed Elena Dementieva extended her winning streak to 12 matches with a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 victory over Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic.

Dementieva, who is unbeaten in 2009 after claiming the Auckland and Sydney titles, admitted after her first round victory over Kristina Barrois that her run of matches had left her a little fatigued.

The world No 4 made 23 unforced errors and served five double faults on the second show court but was still too strong for 35th-ranked Benesova, wrapping up the match in 72 minutes.

“Well, I’m not thinking about my chances. I’m really enjoying the way I’m playing right now. Just want to go as far as I can, just enjoy every single match I play here,” she said.

Former champion Amelie Mauresmo breathed a big sigh of relief after squeaking past the lone Briton left in the women’s draw. The ex-world No 1 eked out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Elena Baltacha.

Thursday’s results (prefix number denotes seedings):

Men’s singles:

Second round: 4-Andy Murray (Britain) bt Marcel Granollers (Spain) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2; 18-Igor Andreev (Russia) bt Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-4; 9-James Blake (US) bt Sebastien de Chaunac (France) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3; 5-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) bt Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (9-7), 6-2; Mario Ancic (Croatia) bt 25-Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 5-7, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; 22-Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) bt Michael Berrer (Germany) 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5; 12-Gael Monfils (France) bt Stefan Koubek (Austria) 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2; Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Flavio Cipolla (Italy) 6-1, 6-2, 6-1; 17-Nicolas Almagro (Spain) bt Fabio Fognini (Italy) 6-2, 7-5, 6-0; 1-Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Roko Karanusic (Croatia) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2; 14-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) bt Arnaud Clement (France) 6-1, 6-1, 6-2; 31-Juergen Melzer (Austria) bt Andreas Beck (Germany) 5-7, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4, 6-3; 6-Gilles Simon (France) bt Chris Guccione (Australia) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-1, 6-2; 13-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) bt Guillermo Canas (Argentina) 7-5, 6-3, 6-4; Dudi Sela (Israel) bt Victor Hanescu (Romania) 6-3, 6-3, 6-2; 24-Richard Gasquet (France) bt Denis Istomin (Uzbekistan) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Women’s singles:

Second round: Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) bt 6-Venus Williams (US) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5; Peng Shuai (China) bt Sesil Karatantcheva (Bulgaria) 6-4, 6-0; 31-Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) bt Severine Bremond (France) 7-6 (7-1), 1-6, 6-2; Samantha Stosur (Australia) bt Sabine Lisicki (Germany) 6-3, 6-4; 12-Flavia Pennetta (Italy) bt Jessica Moore (Australia) 6-4, 6-1; 8-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) bt Tatjana Malek (Germany) 6-2, 6-2; 2-Serena Williams (US) bt Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 6-3, 7-5; 22-Zheng Jie (China) bt Melinda Czink (Hungary) 7-6 (7-0), 5-7, 6-3; 21-Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spain) bt Julie Coin (France) 6-1, 6-4; Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) bt Lourdes Dominguez Lino (Spain) 7-5, 7-5; 20-Amelie Mauresmo (France) bt Elena Baltacha (Britain) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spain) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzbekistan) 6-2, 6-4; 18-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) bt

Chan Yung-jan (Taiwan) 6-0, 6-2; 13-

Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) bt Tathiana Garbin (Italy) 4-1 — Garbin retired; Virginie Razzano (France) bt 14-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 6-3, 6-1; 4-Elena Dementieva (Russia) bt Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-1.—Reuters