Serena Williams wins Australian Open first-round match in straight sets

She features in a prime-time clash on Rod Laver Arena against fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, with Djokovic up against France’s Quentin Halys in the other centre court night match.

The condition of Williams, who faces unpredictable Italian Camila Giorgi in her opener in the second match on Rod Laver, is more open to question.

Snapping at the heels of the two veterans are world number two Simona Halep and third ranked Garbine Muguruza, who have also had less than ideal preparations with illness or injury affecting their build-up. “This being one of the four most important and prestigious tournaments we have in sport, of course it always does in a way extract the best out of each player”.

Djokovic, who beat his long-time friend in the finals here in 2011, ’13 and ’15, said while it was too early to be speculating about the final, he respected Murray’s position. Bouchard, 21, showed her huge potential by making the last four here in 2014, and followed it up by reaching both the French Open semi-final and Wimbledon final that year.

Following a dominant 2015, the world number one is gunning for a seventh Australian crown adamant that she is over the knee problems that hindered her during the latter half of the year and during her Melbourne Park build-up.

“I think I’m going to play a lot in the daytime so I hope I can finish quick in every match”.

The top seed did not need a second invitation to close out the match, finishing the contest with her ninth ace to preserve her record of never having lost in the first round in 15 visits to Melbourne Park.

The fifth seeded Russian dominated all around the blue court to take the sets 6-2, 6-1.

“It was hot but luckily I got finished quickly”, said Nishikori.

Williams, playing in her first competitive match of 2016 began the match quickly, racing off to a 4-1 lead in the first set.

“I m here to focus on Australian Open”, he said. “I was able to stay in it and stay calm and that is what matters most”. In reports published before the tournament, the BBC and BuzzFeed News said secret files exposed evidence of widespread suspected match-fixing at the top level of tennis, with Grand Slam winners among a core group of 16 players that tennis officials repeatedly had been warned about for suspicious behavior.

No. 24 Sloane Stephens, who beat Serena Williams in the 2013 Australian Open quarterfinals, lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Qiang, while No. 26 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and No. 27 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova also went out in the first round.

“Even if she’s playing with one leg out there, you’ve got to really take care of things on your own because she’s an incredible player”.