Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka started their Australian Open campaign in style on Monday while former champion Angelique Kerber was knocked out in the first round by Bernarda Pera and Bianca Andreescu returned after 15 months away as the delayed Grand Slam finally got under way.
World No 3 Osaka scored an an easy 6-1, 6-2 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in 68 minutes while an aggressive Serena Williams started her quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title by thrashing Laura Siegemund. Venus Williams also got past the first-round hurdle, beating Kirsten Flipkens 7-5, 6-2.
The 39-year-old Serena, playing an unparallelled 100th match at the tournament, looked sharp and smashed 16 winners in the 6-1, 6-1 romp in 56 minutes. “This was a good start, it was vintage Serena,” she said.
Williams, wearing a striking multi-coloured, one-legged catsuit, was broken in the opening game but hit back immediately and kept her foot on the pedal in a one-sided…