World number seven Angelique Kerber booked her place in the Australian Open third round Thursday with a workmanlike 6-2, 6-4 win over Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru. The German survived a huge scare in her opening-round clash, pulling herself back from the brink by saving a match point in a second-set tiebreaker against Japan's Misaki Doi.
She learned from the fright and was far more focused against Dulgheru, who had never been beyond the first round in four previous Australian Opens appearances. "I'm very happy about my game tonight. The first round was really difficult for me. I wasn't really playing my game," said Kerber.