Melbourne, Australia – World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki ranked star Kim Clijsters were among round victors at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam event of the year.
The popular Danish star Wozniacki waltzed past Russian-born Aussie Anastasia Rodionova 6-2, 6-1, while the 11th-seeded four-time major champion Clijsters posted her eighth straight victory at Melbourne Park with a 7-5, 6-1 decision against Portugal's Maria Joao Koehler.
Wozniacki injured her left wrist in a quarterfinal match in Sydney last week, but appeared to be fine on Monday.
"I got a bit nervous about my wrist in Sydney, but I am happy I could play full-out tonight," Wozniacki said.
Clijsters, who topped Chinese Li Na in last year's finale to capture her first-ever Aussie title, said Monday's victory wasn't as easy as it looked.
"It was hard to really get a good rhythm out there," Clijsters said. "I did feel like I was seeing the ball probably not always as good as I would like to."
Up next for Wozniacki will be Georgian Anna Tatishvili, while Clijsters will meet France's Stephanie Foretz Gacon in the second round on Wednesday.
Third-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka made quick work of Britain's Heather Watson, earning a 6-1, 6-0 straight-set victory at Rod Laver Arena, while a fifth-seeded Li doused Russian Ksenia Pervak 6-3, 6-1 at Hisense Arena. Azarenka's second-round opponent will be Aussie Casey Dellacqua, while the French Open champion Li will battle Aussie Olivia Rogowska on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, eight-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska had a slightly rougher go in her first match, posting a hard-fought 6-7 (10-12), 6-4, 6-2 win over American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, while 10th-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone earned an easy 6-1, 6-3 victory over Spaniard Laura Pous-Tio and 13th-seeded former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic dismantled Brit Laura Robson 6-2, 6-0. Schiavone was the 2010 French Open champ and last year's Roland Garros runner-up to Li. The Serbian Jankovic is a former U.S. Open champ.
China's Peng Shuai, seeded 16th, notched a 6-3, 6-4 win against France's Aravane Rezai, while some mild upsets saw Russia's Nina Bratchikova take down 19th-seeded Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 and American teenager Christina McHale beat 24th-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova 6-2, 6-4.
In other action involving seeds, No. 20 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia squeezed past American Varvara Lepchenko 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; No. 22 German Julia Goerges downed Slovenian Polona Hercog 6-3, 7-6 (7-3); No. 26 Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues recorded a 6-3, 6-3 win over Czech Eva Birnerova; Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva took out 28th-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer; No. 31 Romanian Monica Niculescu came back to best France's Alize Cornet 5-7, 6-0, 6-3; and No. 32 Czech Petra Cetkovska overcame Japan's Ayumi Morita 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.
Several other women posted first-round wins, including the aforementioned Dellacqua, Czech Iveta Benesova, New Zealand's Marina Erakovic, Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova, and Greek Eleni Daniilidou, who dismissed 41-year-old Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-3, 6-2. Date-Krumm was the oldest player in either singles draw here.
