By ,
Published January 08, 2015
Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Two-time defending champion Victoria Azarenka was a first-round victor in Tuesday's first-round action of the Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam.
The former World No. 1 Azarenka, seeded second, defeated Johanna Larsson of Sweden 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. Azarenka hasn't lost at this event since 2011, defeating Li Na in last year's final and Maria Sharapova in the 2012 championship match.
Eighth-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic whipped Japan's Misaki Doi 6-1, 6-2, while fifth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska had her hands full with Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, but eventually took a 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 victory.
Tenth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark whipped Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-0, 6-2, while 11th-seeded Romanian Simona Halep also had little trouble in a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Poland's Katarzyna Piter.
Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, seeded 16th, also advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over American Vania King and 20th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia took down Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-4.
In a minor upset, Spain's Garbine Muguruza took down 24th-seeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
Alize Cornet of France, seeded 25th, moved to the next round when her opponent, Slovenian Polona Hercog, retired in the first set with an injury.
Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, seeded 29th, took a 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 victory against Brazil's Teliana Pereira, while No. 32 seed Magdalena Rybarikova defeated Andrea Petkovic, 6-2, 6-3.
Unseeded winners on Tuesday included Olga Govortsova, Kurumi Nara Camila Giorgi, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova , Galina Voskoboeva, Zarina Diyas, Mandy Minella, Stefanie Voegele, Ajla Tomljanovic, Anna Schmiedlova, Anna Schmid Christina McHale and Varvara Lepchenko.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/azarenka-moves-on-at-aussie-open