Defending champion Victoria Azarenka raced to a 3-0 lead in nine minutes and went on to beat Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-1 in 57 minutes on Monday to advance to the Australian Open quarterfinals.

Azarenka, who will play Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, beat Maria Sharapova in last year's title match at Melbourne Park for her first Grand Slam.

Last year, Azarenka had a 26-match winning streak to start the year, the best since Martina Hingis in 1997.