Muguruza tempers expectations, hopes not to choke in 2016

“It will be great if I can play against her”, said the confident Spanish world number three.

She showed no mercy as Kontaveit, ranked 85 and playing her first Australian Open, desperately looked for answers but couldn’t find any, as Muguruza powered to the first set in just 23 minutes. I don’t really understand how it all works.

Garbine Muguruza’s rapid rise up the world rankings gives Spain hope of adding to its solitary tennis gold medal at the 2016 Olympics, but the 22-year-old is cagey about a dream mixed doubles pairing with Rafa Nadal in Rio.

“I think it’s irrelevant how old she is because she’s such a champion with so much experience and so much knowledge about the game”. You never know how it’s going to go, first match always in a grand slam.

Milos Raonic, who is now working with Carlos Moya and beat Roger Federer in this month’s Brisbane final, breezed past Lucas Pouille and into the second round.

Venus Williams has been knocked out of the first round 6-4, 6-2 by Britain’s Johanna Konta.

It didn’t get any better in the second set with a despondent Williams, her left thigh heavily strapped, unable to handle the Konta serve or find the shots to hurt an opponent oozing confidence. She had just one ace compared to five for the Briton.

It was the Frenchman who guided Azarenka to the top of the women’s game and to successive Australian Open titles in 2012 and 2013.

Muguruza, who will play Belgian Kirsten Flipkens on Thursday for a place in the last 32, said she was focused from the get-go.

“Always the first rounds are really tough but I’m really excited to be back here and into the second round”.

Swiss 11th seed Timea Bacsinszky is also through after beating Czech Katerina Siniakova 6-3 7-5, while American 15th seed Madison Keys ousted Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.

The third seed blanked Estonia’s Anett Kontaviet in the first set and hung on as her opponent raised her level in the second to notch a 6-0, 6-4 win. Last year, she had a successful partnership with former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, reaching the second week at three of the four Grand Slam tournaments.

It was the eighth time she’s lost in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament and the third in Australia, where she reached the quarterfinals in her first appearance in 1998 and lost the final to her youngest sister, Serena, in 2003.