After two scorching days in Melbourne, the temperatures were much more bearable for players and fans. On a busy day three, there were interesting matches for spectators to dive into.

On her 29th birthday, defending champion and world no.1 Angelique Kerber got more than she bargained for as she survived a 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 scare from fellow German Carina Witthoeft.

Kerber appeared to find her stride midway through the first set and rolled into the second. But Witthoeft found confidence and began to attack Kerber’s serve which was particularly weak. As the set moved to a tiebreak, the top seed looked tight and threw in some untimely double faults. The 21-year old, moving with a purpose, put Kerber on the ropes and benefitted from obvious frustration from the veteran. She would even the match as she rolled in the tiebreaker.

However, in the third set, Kerber found the ability to shun the results of the tiebreak and quickly regained confidence, improved her serve and rolled to the win.

Asked about playing with the pressure of being the world no.1, Kerber responded afterward, “To have this pressure, it's a privilege. It's new for me, but I think I am dealing with it pretty well.”

There has been much discussion about the wear and tear that Kei Nishikori collects during a fortnight and its effect late in a tournament, given his physical style. And after a labor-intensive five-setter in the first round, he was certainly hoping for quick work in the second. He accomplished that with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 straight set win against Jeremy Chardy.

In the first set, the 5-seed forced Chardy out of his comfort zone forcing him into longer rallies. Using his quickness and striking precision groundstrokes, Nishikori comfortably took the set.

The Japanese star overcame an early break deficit in the second set and earned two of his own to turn the tide in his favor. Despite a strong effort by the Frenchman to battle back, Nishikori held on to gain a 2-0 set advantage.

The play was even in the third set until Nishikori broke through with a key service break to gain a 5-3 advantage. He would close out the match on his racket.

“I was definitely playing much better than first round today,” he said. “There were many ups and downs, still too many break points for me. Great to finish in three sets.”

Elsewhere, Roger Federer was back in Rod Laver Arena where he faced Noah Rubin. The young American gave a good account of himself but Federer would advance 7-5, 6-3, 7-6.

Rubin did not show nerves in the first set as he faced one of his idols. He held serve until the pressure intensified serving at 5-6. At that point, Federer struck, putting Rubin in a quick hole. He continued to pressure the 20-year old, refusing to let him back in the game as he closed out the set.

It was more of the same for the Swiss in the second set but things became dicey in the third set as Rubin gained an early service break. To complicate matters, it appeared as if Federer was not running at full speed as he stretched out his leg throughout the set. However, he would fight to get back on serve and sent the set to a tiebreak.

Federer would lean on his serve late in the match and in the tiebreak where he took control and closed out the match.

“I wasn't feeling as good as in the beginning,” Federer said afterward. “I definitely got lucky to win that third set. A lot of difficult moments out there, but it's what I need to progress in this tournament.”

Meanwhile, Venus Williams was noticeably more aggressive on Wednesday as she dashed to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland.

Williams found success against her opponent’s second serve and won 69 percent of her first-serve points, riding her power game to the victory. 

Venus was happy with the result afterward, “I love being here. It's a great way to start the year. Awesome,” she said. However, news surfaced later that she had injured her elbow in the match and later pulled out of the doubles draw with sister Serena. The severity of the injury is unknown.