Melbourne, Jan 17 (IANS): Madison Keys of the United States on Thursday beat Russia's Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Australian Open.

In humid conditions, 17th seed Keys defeated World No. 89 Potapova in straight sets, reports Efe news.

"It's really humid out here, my shirt's soaking wet, so I'm glad I got it done in two sets today," Keys said in her on-court interview after the match.

She is set to play 12th seed Elise Mertens of Belgium in the next round, after the Belgian defeated Russia's Margarita Gasparyan 6-1, 7-5 on Thursday.

Keys acknowledged that Mertens was a tough opponent, although she beat the Belgian in their only previous meeting, in the 2017 US Open, where the American went on to play in the final.

"That's a tough match. We've played once before and it was a really close match. And she has obviously done very well this year," Keys said.

The American lost to the German Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals in last year's edition of the tournament.