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Any fears that Serena Williams may be hampered by an ankle injury sustained during her first-round match were quickly dispelled on Thursday.
The five-time Australian Open champion moved freely and confidently in her 6-2 6-0 victory over 19-year-old Spaniard Garbine Muguruza.
A strict regimen of icing and massage looks to have done the trick for Williams’s troublesome ankle.
"It feels better, I was just doing everything you can do [to get ready for today]," said Williams after the match.
The killer instinct didn't seem to be quite as strong as Williams battled at times against an opponent who looked up to her as a youngster, but was not overawed by her when they played on Thursday.
When confronted with this news, Williams said it was "sweet" and that Muguruza has "an extremely bright future".
A break point for Williams in the first game was enough for her to drive a wedge into the opening set. A penetrating crosscourt forehand that world No.112 Muguruza could barely get her frame to gave the third seed an early lead.
For Williams, this was a good thing as her game was a little off. Her normally pinpoint groundstrokes were overshooting the lines with a rare regularity.
At times the American looked pre-occupied and almost annoyed that her opponent would not simply lay down and concede the match.
Williams racked up 20 unforced errors, compared with just 11 in her first match. This was unexpected.
But perhaps the most unexpected moment came in the seventh game when she smacked herself in the mouth when following through on a defensive lob. It was enough to slow her down for a few games and minor enough for Williams to joke about after the match.
"One day I twist my ankle, today I hit myself in the face, I do not know what's going to happen on Saturday. Hopefully I just hit some winners."
Despite this friendly fire, at the key moments it was Williams who stood tall.
A second break in the seventh game gave Williams a stranglehold on the first set, which she duly served out 6-2.
An 18-minute game to open the second set ended with Williams finally getting an extremely hard-earned break – Williams has been involved in sets shorter than this single game.
Thankfully for the American it was not a sign of things to come. The rest of the set took just 19 minutes as Williams found her range, took charge and grabbed the "W".
Next up for Williams will be either Ayumi Morita or Annika Beck – neither of whom the third seed has played.