Royal presence spurs Federer to give majestic display

The Swiss needed only an hour and 39 minutes to overcome the 47th-ranked Romanian 6-2 6-3 6-2 under the Rod Laver Arena lights.

It was a convincing performance at the end of a day on which just one seed fell out of the men's draw – 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis came from two sets down to beat 17th seed David Ferrer 4-6 3-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 6-1.

Third seed Novak Djokovic, in-form Nikolay Davydenko, 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and last year's semi-finalist Fernando Verdasco all progressed as the reputation for surprises at the season-opening grand slam continued to be undermined.

Robin Soderling, the eighth seed, remains the only player inside the top 12 to have been eliminated after he lost in the opening round.

Grand slam record holder Federer gave a reminder of his greatness, albeit against clay-court specialist Hanescu.

The Swiss player's performance may not have quite been fit for a king, but it certainly delighted Prince William, who made a late entrance to the applause of the near-capacity 14,000 crowd and Federer himself.

But such was the speed of Federer's victory charge the Prince saw just five games.

"Tonight was extremely special. For me it was a big honour that he came and watched me," Federer said. "I've just briefly had a chance to talk to him. I'm not going to tell you everything he just said to me. You've got to have a little bit of a secret.

"But he said he was happy that I played a little bit longer for him, because the match could have ended even shorter."

Djokovic, the 2008 winner, defeated Switzerland's Marco Chiudinelli 3-6 6-1 6-1 6-3.

The Serbian cut an agitated figure as he lost the opening set and needed a new racquet after crashing one into the court, but eventually turned his aggression into winners – he hit 58 – to overwhelm his opponent.

Davydenko proved why he has been considered as a contender to win his first grand slam title as he swept past Illyan Marchenko 6-3 6-3 6-0.

Lleyton Hewitt, the 22nd seed, beat American Daniel Young 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 6-1.

Defending women's champion Serena Williams swept into the third round with a 6-2 6-1 win over unseeded teenager Petra Kvitova in little over an hour.

It was a dominant display from the world No 1, who dropped just three points on her first serve.

Williams will next play 32nd seed Carla Suarez Navarro, who beat Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-1 6-4 yesterday. Her sixth-seeded siser Venus, who is chasing her first Australian Open title at the age of 29, claimed her second consecutive straight-sets win as she ousted Sybille Bammer 6-2 7-5.

She will meet unseeded Australian Casey Dellacqua who defeated Karolina Sprem 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (8/6).

Former world No 1 Ana Ivanovic continued her disappointing grand slam form since winning the 2008 French Open as she was bundled out by

36th-ranked Gisela Dulko 6-7 (6/8) 7-5 6-4.