The Australian Open has seen its first round of competition in Melbourne on Monday. After winning her inaugural Shenzhen Open in China and reaching the semi-finals of the Sydney International last week, the sixth-seeded Li Na is trying to sustain her momentum at the tournament.
Li, the 2011 Australian Open finalist, broke her Kazakh opponent four times in the match and hit 21 winners to just six for Sesil Karatantcheva. Li Na advanced to the second round by winning the game 6-1, 6-3.
Venus Williams started her Australian Open campaign with a 2-0 win over Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan. Maria Sharapova won her first match of the year in a convincing fashion, showing little rustiness in a 2-0 victory over fellow Russian Olga Puchkova.