Aus Open PHOTOS: Federer, Sharapova scrape to wins; Murray mauls Matosevic

Photos from the Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Wednesday

Second seed Roger Federer survived a first set scare before he ramped up his performance and advanced safely to the third round of the Australian Open with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Italian journeyman Simone Bolelli on Wednesday.

Federer initially looked out of sorts against the 29-year-old Italian, who was perhaps feeding off the energy Alexandra Panova generated in almost beating women's second seed Maria Sharapova immediately before their match on Rod Laver Arena.

The 33-year-old Swiss seized his opportunity to turn the momentum of the match in the eighth game of the second set when he broke Bolelli for the first time, which was followed by a massive bellow of 'come on'.

Federer had been awarded the match when a Bolelli shot was called long at 5-1 in the fourth set, but the Italian correctly challenged and the point was replayed though it only delayed the inevitable as the 17-time Grand Slam winner then served it out.

Sharapova survives Panova scare

World No 2 Maria Sharapova fought off two match points with crunching forehands to sneak into the third round of the Australian Open following a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 victory over qualifier Alexandra Panova on Wednesday.

With the air temperature approaching 32 degrees Celsius, Sharapova had raced through the first set in 26 minutes, winning two service games to love and breaking her Russian compatriot three times.

The 25-year-old Panova, whose opening round win over Sorana Cirstea was her first in the main draw of a grand slam, ground to a 5-2 lead in the second set before Sharapova battled back and had an opportunity to level it at 5-5, but Panova held her nerve to send it to a decider.

The World No 2 took a break between sets but grew more anguished as Panova seized a 2-0 lead and then held two match points while serving at 5-4 before the five-time grand slam winner unleashed several powerful forehands to stay alive.

Murray mauls Matosevic

A merciless Andy Murray kept his unbeaten record over Australian players intact with a dominant 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 win over Marinko Matosevic to advance to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Bidding for his maiden title at Melbourne Park after three trips to the final, the sixth-seeded Briton stormed out of the blocks to wrap up the first set in 21 minutes, conceding only eight points on a steamy day at Margaret Court Arena.

Matosevic, a feisty journeyman ranked 81st in the world, broke Murray's serve in the second set to the annoyance of the Scot, but the 29-year-old was powerless to match his opponent's baseline firepower and surrendered in 102 minutes with a forehand clubbed long.

Murray improved to 10-0 against players from Australia with the win and advanced to meet Portugal's Joao Sousa, who advanced after Slovakian Martin Klizan retired in the fourth set of their second round encounter.