World No.1 Kerber downs fellow German to advance in Aussie Open

Defending Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber showcased a few moments of true class as she paved her way to the third round in the first Grand Slam of the calendar year.

Kerber did not take the easy route to victory though and it took her three sets including a tiebreak loss to eventually claim victory over Carina Witthoeft, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 in just over two hours.

The 28-year old phenom enjoyed the best season of her career last year - claiming two majors and an Olympic silver medal - and the powerful German looks determined to replicate her success again in 2017.

It was a nightmare start for her compatriot Witthoeft, as she lost her first service game of the match before going on to register six double-faults in the opening set.

On the opposite side of the court, Kerber did not register a single double fault in the opening set.

Errant shots were the real deciding factor in the match as Kerber minimized her mistakes, only hitting 34 unforced errors compared to a whopping 69 from her opponent.

Limiting any possible mistakes was clearly part of the game plan for the World No. 1, who only hit 26 winners in the match compared to 38 from Witthoeft.

The German is in the process of trying to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time in her career, but the second set was far from championship material and Witthoeft won the set 7-6 after dominating the tiebreak 7-3.

But Kerber was simply too hot to handle in the deciding set and she ended up winning it 6-2 to move forward to the next round.

The Bremen native faces the winner of Kristyna Pliskova and the 27th-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu in what could turn out to be a fascinating third-round match.