Melbourne: Serena Williams opened her title defence with a clinical 6-2, 6-1 victory over Poland's Urszula Radwanska in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.
The 11-time grand slam champion, bidding for a fifth Melbourne title, had her right leg heavily strapped, but appeared in no discomfort as she wrapped up the match in an hour and 13 minutes.
Williams, troubled by a sore knee in a straight-sets loss to Russia's Elena Dementieva in Friday's Sydney International final, was never threatened by the 72nd-ranked Radwanska, clubbing 26 winners as she raced through the second set in just 33 minutes.
Williams will next play the winner of the match between fellow American Jill Craybas and Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 09:59