Fifth seed Sloane Stephens said she was desperate to improve her "terrible" Australian Open record after advancing to the third round at Melbourne Park on Wednesday. The American has endured a horror run since reaching the semi-final in 2013, exiting in the first round in 2015, 2016 and 2018, then also missing 2017 with a foot injury.

But she was hopeful her fortunes were improving after posting a second round 6-3, 6-1 win over former doubles partner Timea Babos of Hungary. "I haven't won a match here in how long?" she said. "I'm kind of conquering all the places where I've been terrible. Asia. I've won a few matches there (reaching the decider at the WTA Finals in Singapore). And here, I played well today.