Roger Federer set up a juicy third-round clash with former Australian Open champion Marat Safin after finally subduing a stubborn Evgeny Korolev 6-2 6-3 6-1.
Federer, who is seeking to equal Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam wins with his fourth at Melbourne Park, was more than matched by the Russian qualifier in the opening two sets before romping away with the third.
The 27-year-old Federer enthralled the crowd packed into Rod Laver Arena with some audacious shot-making but Korolev also joined in and his wristy racquet work provided some anxious moments for the world number two.
The last time Federer met Safin at the Australian Open, the big Russian won a mammoth five-set semi-final and went on to claim the title.
Former champion Safin, in what could be his last Australian Open after indicating he was close to quitting the sport, downed Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5 6-2 6-2.
Champion Novak Djokovic also eased into the third round with a 7-5 6-1 6-3 demolition of France's Jeremy Chardy.
The 21-year-old Serb struggled initially against Chardy in an even first set, breaking just once in the 12th game, before he romped away with the second and third.
After failing to send the opener to a tie-break, Chardy's game fell apart in the second set and the Frenchman managed to win just seven points, two of which were on Djokovic's serve.
The world number three continued his domination in the deciding set, romping into a 4-0 lead before his 21-year-old opponent got on the scoreboard.
Chardy briefly raised hopes of a recovery by breaking Djokovic when serving for the match, but he was unable to stop the third seed's march into the next round.
Argentina's David Nalbandian became the highest-ranked men's player to be knocked out when he was beaten 6-4 5-7 4-6 6-4 6-2 by Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun.
The 10th-seeded Nalbandian squandered six break point opportunities in the final game before Lu produced a winning forehand to seal the victory in three hours and 55 minutes.
The victory moved Lu into the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time and he will meet Spain's Tommy Robredo, who thrashed Serbia's Viktor Troicki 6-1 6-3 6-0.
American Andy Roddick eased his way into the third round with a 4-6 6-2 7-6 6-2 win over Belgian qualifier Xavier Malisse.
Roddick, seeded seventh, began slowly but seized control of the match when he won the third set tie-break.
Roddick has made the semi-finals of the Australian Open three times but has never made it to the final. He will next face Fabrice Santoro after the 36-year-old Frenchman beat Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in five sets.
Spanish 11th seed David Ferrer was the first man through, thrashing Slovakian veteran Dominik Hrbaty 6-2 6-2 6-1.
It was an impressive recovery from Ferrer who endured a four-hour ordeal in his opening match in furnace-like conditions on Monday.
Security was called during a match as Bosnian-born American Amer Delic overcame Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in five sets.
It was deemed necessary after a group of Serbian fans turned up and began taunting Delic's supporters.
The potential powderkeg clash between Marin Cilic and Janko Tipsarevic passed off largely trouble-free as Serb Tipsarevic went down to the big-serving Croat 6-2 6-3 4-6 6-3.
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