Serena opens bid for Slam history with crushing win
Serena Williams beat Tatjana Maria in straight sets in the Australian Open first round on Tuesday.
MELBOURNE (AFP) - Serena Williams launched her bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam with a straight sets mauling of Germany s Tatjana Maria in the Australian Open first round Tuesday.
In an ominous warning to her rivals at Melbourne Park, the American took just 49 minutes to dismantle Maria, justifying her status as bookies favourite to claim her eighth Australian title.
The 37-year-old won her 23rd major Down Under two years ago while eight weeks pregnant and is now attempting to match Margaret Court s mark of 24 singles Slams on the Australian s home soil.
She will meet either Canada s Eugenie Bouchard or Peng Shuai of China in the second round.
Seventh seed Karolina Pliskova brushed aside fellow Czech Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-2 to reach the Australian Open second round on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old made short work of her compatriot, dispatching her in 69 minutes.
"It s a good start, I m happy I didn t have to spend too much time on court," she said.
"I don t know why but I always play good tennis here (in Australia)."
Pliskova has made the quarter-finals in her last two appearances at Melbourne Park and entered this year s tournament on a high after winning the Brisbane International warm-up.
She has been a regular in the second week of Grand Slams in recent years, reaching the quarters or better six times since late 2016, but is still searching for a breakthrough win.
American Madison Keys declared herself 100 percent fit for a tilt at the Australian Open title after crushing local wildcard Destanee Aiava 6-2, 6-2 to reach the second round on Monday.
The 23-year-old was a consistent performer at Grand Slams last year, reaching the semis at the French and US Open, as well as the quarter-finals in Melbourne.
She is looking to improve on her best performance at the Australian Open, a semi-final appearance against eventual champion Serena Williams in 2015.
Keys said she had skipped warm-up tournaments to ensure she had no fitness problems.
"I was having issues with my knee at the end of the year and was running out of time and wouldn t be ready for Brisbane, so I knew I wanted to be 100 percent ready for here," she said.
"There s obviously things that I want to work on, overall just being a more solid tennis player."
She will next play either France s Pauline Parmentier or Russia s Anastasia Potapova.
