Wang on the up Down Under

China's Wang Qiang continued her encouraging form at the Australian Open on Wednesday with a 2-6,7-6 (5), 6-3 triumph over Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck.

Wang, who stunned US teenager Coco Gauff in her opener, took two hours and 15 minutes to send her unseeded opponent packing in a hard-fought battle on Court 17.

Having dropped outside the world's top 100, Wang, who is coached by Australian great Pat Cash, is hoping for a deep run at Melbourne Park, where she famously ousted Serena Williams en route to the fourth round two years ago.

"I think I always play good here, so I'm really happy and these two wins have brought me a lot of confidence," Wang, who reached a career-high ranking of No 12 in September 2019, told reporters.

"Since I started working with Pat, I actually didn't win too many matches, but I think we are going in the right direction, so we will keep doing what we're doing.

"I am just trying to play the way I practice. We've been working on serving big and playing more aggressive off my forehand and attacking the net more."

The 30-year-old was coy when asked if she had any specific targets for the tournament, saying with a giggle that they are "secret".

However, she admitted she is simply savoring her return to competition after taking a break following her exertions at Tokyo 2020.

"Since the Olympic Games I didn't play on the professional tour, so I feel really happy to be back on the tour," she said.

The former Chinese No 1 will next face world No 51 Madison Keys. American Keys advanced with a 6-2,7-5 win over Jaqueline Cristian of Romania.

Osaka impresses

Defending champion Naomi Osaka advanced to the third round with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Madison Brengle on Rod Laver Arena.

Osaka dominated the opening set, conceding just four points in the first four games, and clinched it in 20 minutes.

But Brengle, an American ranked 54th, increased the pressure in the second set and broke Osaka's serve in the seventh game.

It triggered an immediate response from the former No 1-ranked Osaka, who recovered the break immediately and finished off by winning the last nine points of the match.

She will next face Amanda Anisimova, a 20-year-old American who beat Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic 6-2, 7-5.

Earlier, French Open champion and fourth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova beat China's Wang Xiyu 6-2, 6-3 to move into a third-round match against No 26 Jelena Ostapenko.

Raducanu rolls on

A year ago, Emma Raducanu was keeping tabs on Melbourne Park via TV, holed up at home in England, a teenager taking a break from the tour while studying for high school exams. Look at her now. On Tuesday, Raducanu, still just 19, was on a show court at the year's first Grand Slam tournament ... as a reigning Grand Slam champion ... facing a past Grand Slam champion ... going three sets for the first time in a Grand Slam match ... and pulling out the victory.

Everything has come dizzyingly quickly for someone who went from the qualifying rounds to the trophy at the US Open four months ago, and yet she views herself as a work-in-progress who needs to keep building her game. If those on the outside are impatient and have outsized expectations, Raducanu sounds as if she understands the importance of taking things step by step.

"I think 2022 is all about learning for me," she said after beating 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 in the first round in Melbourne.

"Being in those situations of, you know, winning a set and then having to fight in a decider is definitely all just accumulating into a bank of experience that I can tap into later on down the line."

Remember: She had never even won a tour-level match before getting to the fourth round at Wimbledon in July. Then, at New York in September, Raducanu became the first qualifier to win a major championship and, at 18, the youngest female champ at a Slam since Maria Sharapova.

The player Raducanu beat in the US Open final, Canada's Leylah Fernandez, also was a teenager, also was unheralded. On Tuesday, Fernandez also was in action; she lost 6-4, 6-2 to Maddison Inglis, an Australian wild-card recipient ranked 133rd.

Like Raducanu, Fernandez did not place too much stock in one outcome. "One of those days," Fernandez said. "Now it's just: Get back on the practice court, get ready for the next tournament and the next match and see how it goes (at) the next Grand Slam."

That sort of level-headed thinking is vital.

"The hardest part is trying to prove that you are good enough to be where you are or good enough to stay where you are," said Stephens, who was 19 when she reached her first major semifinal and 24 when she claimed the title in New York.

"I was talking to someone in the locker room, and I'm like, 'We'll be here when she comes down'－not Emma, but just in general," Stephens said. "It all is like a cycle, and I think learning how to deal with it early on is the best way to handle it."

Maybe that's why some folks were surprised or, worse, worried when Raducanu was beaten 6-0, 6-1 at the Sydney International a week ago.

The takeaway should not have been concern. It should have been: So what? That basically was Raducanu's take, and she won 24 of 28 points in a 17-minute opening set Tuesday. Even more impressive was the way she put the second set behind her to dominate the third.

Agencies contributed to this story