Serena cruises; Venus advances with big rally

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — This was quite a return for Serena Williams. Almost as if she never left.

In her first match at the Australian Open since win- ning the 2017 title while pregnant — and her first official match anywhere since a loss in the chaotic U.S. Open final in September — Williams looked to be at her dom- inant best, overpowering Tatjana Maria 6-0, 6-2 in the first round Tuesday.

“I kind of like to jump in the deep end and swim,” Williams said in an on-court interview after the 49-minute workout, “and see what happens.”

She hadn’t dipped her toe in Grand Slam waters since New York, where everything devolved after Williams was warned for getting coaching, then docked a point for breaking a racket and eventually docked a game for calling the chair umpire “a thief ” during the final.

When that match was mentioned by a reporter during Williams’ news conference Tuesday, as part of a question about whether coaching should be allowed during matches at majors, she replied, “I, like, literally have no comment.”

Other seeded winners Tuesday included No. 4 Naomi Osaka, No. 7 Karolina Pliskova, No. 12 Elise Mertens, No. 13 Anastasija Sevastova, No. 17 Madison Keys and No. 18 Garbine Muguruza among the women, plus No. 4 Alexander Zverev, No. 8 Kei Nishikori, No. 11 Borna Coric and No. 12 Fabio Fognini among the men.

Both Nishikori, who had dropped the opening two sets against qualifier Kamil Majchrzak, and Fognini advanced when their oppo- nents retired mid-match.

French Open finalist Dom- inic Thiem went the distance against Benoit Paire before wrapping up a 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 1-6, 6-3 win just after 2 a.m.

Williams’ older sister, Venus, is unseeded at a major for the first time in five years and she was a game from a first-round exit before coming back to elim- inate 25th-seeded Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-2.

The tournament’s two No. 1 seeds, Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep, played at night and both won — although in contrasting fashion. Djokovic eliminated Mitchell Krueger of the U.S. 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, while Halep trailed by a set and a break before coming back to beat Kaia Kanepi 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-2 and avoid becoming the first top-seeded woman in 40 years to lose her opening match at the Australian Open.