Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka started their Australian Open campaign in style on Monday with solid, straight-sets wins while former champ...
Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka started their Australian Open campaign in style on Monday with solid, straight-sets wins while former champion Angelique Kerber was knocked out in the first round by Bernarda Pera 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 contest.
She showed no ill-effects of a shoulder injury that ruled her out of the semi-finals of the warm-up Yarra Valley Classic. Williams has also been battling a lingering Achilles injury first sustained at last year’s US Open, but has been in strong form so far in Melbourne.
The American, seeded...
