Teenager Bernard Tomic will be out to lead the Australian charge into the third round when he takes on Croatia’s Marin Cilic in the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Wednesday night.

The 17-year-old, ranked 289th in the world, faces a huge task against the 14th seed.

Cilic is coming off a tournament victory in Chennai and extended his winning streak with an impressive 7-5 7-5 6-3 win over French veteran Fabrice Santoro in the first round in Melbourne.

But Tomic will have the support of a home crowd and the confidence gained from a 6-3 6-4 6-4 win over French qualifier Guillaume Rufin in the opening round.

Earlier in the night, two of the top women’s title hopes, Russian fifth seed Elena Dementieva and Belgian former world No.1 Justine Henin will clash, in a second round match worthy of the business end of the tournament.

In-form Dementieva is fresh from winning the Sydney International, where she downed world No.1 Serena Williams in the final.

Henin, the 2004 Australian Open winner, is chasing her eighth grand slam title, but her first since her recent return after a 19-month break from the game.

Fellow Belgian comeback star Kim Clijsters is in action earlier in the day, taking on Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Other top players scheduled for matches on Wednesday include men’s second seed Rafael Nadal and women’s second seed Dinara Safina and third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

And men’s fourth seed, Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro, faces a tough match against American James Blake.

Apart from Tomic, the only Australian playing singles on Wednesday will be Jarmila Groth, who plays her first round match against Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson.

How the Australians fared on day two of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park
Men’s singles, first round
Carsten Ball lost to 9-Fernando Verdasco (Esp) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-1) 7-5 6-2
Matthew Ebden lost to 12-Gael Monfils (Fra) 6-4 6-4 6-4
Nick Lindahl lost to Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) 6-2 7-5 6-4

Women’s singles, first round
13-Samantha Stosur bt Han Xinyun (Chn) 6-1 3-6 6-2
Casey Dellacqua bt Anastasiya Yakimova (Blr) 6-2 3-6 6-4
Olivia Rogowska lost to Sorana Cristea (Rou) 6-3 2-6 6-2

Evening matches
Men’s singles, first round
22-Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Ricardo Hocevar (Bra) 6-1 6-2 6-3.
Marinko Matosevic (Aus) lost to Marco Chiudinelli (Sui) 7-6(9-7) 7-6(7-3) 4-6 6-3

Womens’ singles, first round
Alicia Molik (Aus) lost to Julie Coin (Fra) 3-6 7-6(7-4) 6-3

© AAP 2012

Enjoy sports? Enjoy a bargain? All Sports Online has your favourite sporting brands at up to 70% off. Online only, premium quality sporting goods and merchandise at discounted prices. Get a deal now.