Tournament favourite Serena Williams was pleased to have survived a tougher test on Saturday at the Australian Open as she looks to turn up the heat on her rivals in the second week at Melbourne Park.
The five-time champion, who boasts 15 major singles titles including last year's Wimbledon and US Open crowns, had breezed through her first two matches against Edina Gallovits-Hall and Garbine Muguruza.
And while she needed only 66 minutes to make it three straight-sets wins in a row, the 6-1 6-3 score does not do justice to the fight showed by Japan's Ayumi Morita.
In fact, Morita had Williams a little worried early in the second set when she broke and then held her own serve to lead 3-0, only for Williams to reel off six games in a row to set up a fourth-round clash with Russian Maria Kirilenko.
"I thought she (Morita) played really well, she played at a level higher than I expected so it took me off guard," Williams said before heading back out onto court to contest a doubles match with older sister Venus.
"She was just consistent, really consistent.
"I feel good, I feel today was actually a really good match for me (because) I was involved in a lot of longer points, something I definitely wanted.
"I feel good (and) I hope I can keep this level up and go higher."
Having injured her right ankle during the first set of her win over Gallovits-Hall, who she still managed to beat 6-0 6-0, Williams said the joint continues to improve slowly.
"Yeah, it's okay, it's doing a little better every day," she added.
"I'm definitely able to practice hard, so it's definitely doing better (but) I'm still taking it a day at a time."
Pleased to have landed a 207km/h serve for the second match in a row, Williams also will not be taking Kirilenko lightly after the 14th seed beat 20th-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.
"Maria is playing consistent tennis, especially the past 16 (or) 18 months, she's been so consistent," Williams said.
"So my goal is just to be really focused against such a player that's doing so well."