Venus eases into round two
Fourth seed Venus Williams began her 12th Australian Open campaign with a straight-sets victory over Italian Sara Errani.
Williams, now 30, was a 6-3 6-2 winner against her 23-year-old opponent on Hisense Arena.
The five-time Wimbledon champion has made just one visit to an Australian Open final, when she was defeated by her sister Serena in 2003.
However, with Serena absent through injury here, Venus may stand an improved chance of breaking her Melbourne duck.
The 30-year-old American had her serve broken in the third game of the opening set but immediately gained the break back.
The set then went with serve until Williams broke Errani for 5-3 and held on her own delivery to secure the initiative.
They again traded breaks early in the second set, but then Williams took charge as she booked a second-round clash with Sandra Zahlavova, who beat fellow Czech Republic player Renata Voracova 6-3 6-1.
