Williams sisters get first-round victories

Serena Williams is off to a fast start at the Australian Open.

After losing the opening game, Williams won 10 games in a row and beat Laura Siegemund 6-1, 6-1 on the first day of the tournament. The victory marked the start of Williams’ latest bid for a record-tying 24th major title.

Williams took the court in a colorful one-legged catsuit, and her game looked flashy, too. She lost only nine points on her serve and hit 16 winners.

For the past four years, Williams has been trying to equal Australian Margaret Court’s record for major titles. Williams’ most recent Grand Slam championship came at Melbourne in 2017.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who won the title in Melbourne two years ago, played the opening match in Rod Laver Arena and beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-2.

And Venus Williams won a Grand Slam match for the first time since 2019. Playing in her 21st Australian Open, Williams beat Kirsten Flipkens 7-5, 6-2 on the first day of play.

Venus Williams went 0-2 in matches at major tournaments last year. The victory came in her 88th Grand Slam match, a women’s record.

At 40, she is the oldest woman in this year’s draw and just the sixth player in her 40s to compete at the event.

The first tournament of this year’s Grand Slam season began after a threeweek delay because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Physically I feel like everyone, their bodies are shocked, coming in and playing so suddenly after such a long break,” Osaka said. “I think we’re all getting used to it and everyone is just happy to be here.”

Osaka drew a potentially tough opponent in Pavlyuchenkova, a Russian ranked 39th who reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne three of the past four years.

But Osaka breezed through the first set in 21 minutes and barely slowed after that.

Up to 30,000 fans — about 50% of capacity — will be allowed on the site, but seats were mostly empty on a cool morning.