Top seeds, former champs march on
Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams stuck to the Australian Open script with fairly routine victories yesterday, while men's champion Stan Wawrinka and two-time winner Victoria Azarenka joined them in the second round.
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The tournament had been turned on its head on the first day with eight women's seeds, notably fifth-ranked Ana Ivanovic, crashing out in the first round.
Yesterday's matches went mostly as expected, however, with Djokovic barely troubled while Serena had some issues in the second set against players ranked more than 100 places below them.
Bidding to become the second man to win five Australian Open titles and touted by pundits and fellow players as the player to beat, Djokovic put in just enough effort to beat Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene 6-3 6-2 6-4 in a shade under two hours.
Serena was at her ambivalently arrogant best in the first set, appearing to barely acknowledge Alison Van Utyvanck's presence as she swatted aside the Belgian 6-0 in 21 minutes, and later ran out a 6-0 6-4 winner.
Despite taking a fall early in his match, Wawrinka was equally comfortable against Marsel Ilhan, the only Turkish man to have made a grand slam main draw.
Two-time champion Azarenka, unseeded after an injury-ravaged 2014, eased through with a 6-3 6-2 win over American Sloane Stephens.
The tournament does not get any easier for Azarenka with a second round clash against former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who eventually outfought American teenager Taylor Townsend 7-6(1) 6-2.
