No problems for Serena in opener

Six-time champion Serena Williams looked in good form as she recorded a straight sets win over Belinda Bencic to reach the second round of the Australian Open.

Williams was in no mood to spend too long in the scorching Melbourne sunshine and needed just 79 minutes to overcome her Swiss opponent 6-4 6-3.

Having missed the final few months of 2016 with a shoulder injury, Williams was beaten in the second round in Auckland earlier this month, but there was no sign of rustiness as she faced Bencic, who had won the pair’s last showdown in Toronto two years ago.

Things looked ominous for Bencic when Williams moved 3-1 up early on but she battled back to 4-4, only for the American to hit a superb cross-court winner to hold serve and move within one of the opening set.

Bencic looked deflated and easily gave up her own serve to hand the set to her opponent and soon she found herself 5-0 down in the second.

Staring defeat in the face she rallied to win the next three games but it was only to be a short reprieve as Williams closed out on her second match point to set-up a clash with Lucie Safarova.

"She was just recently in the top 10 so I knew it would be one of the toughest first-round matches I've ever played," Williams said afterwards.

"She's a really good player. So I think I was able to start out well. I just wasn't as aggressive at the end as I was during those games.

"She started playing better. I made a few errors on some key points but for the most part, I still was going for everything and I was able to close it out."

Safarova had to save nine match points before finally getting the better of Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer 3-6 7-6 6-1.

Wickmayer looked to be heading towards victory after winning the opening set and moving 6-5 ahead in the second. Safarova managed to save three match points to force the tie-break but again it was Wickmayer who moved clear, setting up another three match points.

She was unable to get over the line and Safarova battled back to win the tie-break. From there it was all one-way traffic as she broke in the opening game, her first of five consecutive games and there was little her opponent could do to prevent her victory.

“I think she served well on certain points and on others I just didn’t go for enough,” a disappointed Wickmayer said.

“As much as I tried, I think I was just mentally done (after that). My chances were in the second, not in the third.”

Fifth seed Karolina Pliskova dropped just two games on her way to a straight sets win over Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2 6-0, while Caroline Wozniacki defeated Australian Arina Rodionova 6-1 6-2.

Elsewhere Johnna Konta overcame Kirsten Flipkens 7-5 6-2 to progress to the second round.

The British number one came into the tournament on the back of a victory in Sydney and she will be hoping she can go far in Melbourne.

A nervy start saw Konta make eight unforced errors in the opening three games but she soon found her rhythm and had the opportunity to claim the set when serving at 5-4. She failed to convert and it was Flipkens who broke to give herself a chance of the set.

However, she broke back immediately and served out to love to take the first set. Another break followed at 2-2 and from there it was all one way traffic as she raced 5-2 ahead with another break sealing the victory.

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