Serena Williams stormed into the Australian Open second round as she began her bid for a 24th Grand Slam title with a win over Tatjana Maria.

The 37-year-old American, whose 23rd major title came in Melbourne when she was pregnant two years ago, won 6-0 6-2 in 49 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Williams holds the most Open era singles titles, but is looking to equal Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24.

Sister Venus dug deep to beat Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-2.

The Romanian 26th seed served for the match at 5-3 in the second set but Venus broke to love.

The 38-year-old American, ranked 36th, went on to take the set before dominating the third.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion said: “It was pretty hairy there. I hope that this tough match will prepare me for the rest of the tournament.”

Williams, who has reached the final at Melbourne Park twice, most recently in 2017 when she lost to Serena, will meet Alize Cornet of France next.

• ‘Struggling’ Azarenka tearful after loss
• Halep fights back to avoid shock defeat
• Konta battles through to second round
• ‘Scary’ Raonic beats injury-hit Kyrgios
• Djokovic starts record bid with easy victory

Serena still has health concerns

Serena, the 16th seed, took the first set in 18 minutes against Germany’s Maria and fired 22 winners during her opening match.

It was her first Grand Slam match since her rant against umpire Carlos Ramos at last year’s US Open final.

Asked if she had discussed coaching signals with Patrick Mouratoglou after the warning from Ramos that sparked the furore in New York, Williams said: “I literally have no comment.”

The seven-time Australian Open winner, who will face Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard next, wore compression stockings and said she was “definitely still concerned” about the dangers of deep vein thrombosis.

“I have had some issues and they’re not done,” said Williams, who experienced potentially life-threatening blood clots after giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia.

“It’s just something I have to do for pretty much probably the rest of my career, we’ll see. But I’m always at the doctor.

“With DVTs, it’s very scary. I know a lot of people – they’re very common – have them. Especially for me, it’s incredibly frightening.

“I lay on the side of precaution as opposed to not.”

Bouchard, a Wimbledon finalist in 2014 and former world number five, said she was excited to play Williams, who she described as the “greatest ever”.

“Her ranking is top-20 right now, but to me she’s always basically number one,” the 24-year-old said.

“I don’t want to talk about it too much and put her on too much of a pedestal because I have to play her in two days, but I love her.”

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A tearful Victoria Azarenka said she will come back stronger following her Australian Open first-round exit.

Azarenka has struggled for form since returning from maternity leave in 2017 and missed last year’s Australian Open because of an ongoing custody dispute.

She lost 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-2 to 110th-ranked Laura Siegemund on Tuesday.

“I’ve been through a lot of things in my life. Sometimes I wonder why I go through them,” Azarenka, a two-time champion in Melbourne, said.

“I think they’re going to make me stronger. I want to believe that and I’m going to work hard for it.

“Right now is just a harder struggle for me. I can continue to repeat this word, that I’m struggling right now. I think it’s pretty obvious.”

• Britain’s Konta battles into second round
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• Follow the Australian Open on BBC TV, radio and online

Former world number one Azarenka returned from maternity leave in June 2017 after giving birth to her son, Leo.

Her appearances and travel were limited in 2018 because of the custody dispute, which Azarenka later said she “wouldn’t wish on anyone”.

She went out in the first round of the WTA tournament in Auckland prior to the Australian Open and is currently 53rd in the rankings.

“Sometimes I just need a little time and patience and a little support,” Azarenka said.

“If there’s a store where you can buy it, I’ll go purchase it.”

Simona Halep avoided becoming the first world number one to suffer back-to-back first-round Grand Slam exits with a gutsy three-set win over Kaia Kanepi at the Australian Open.

The Romanian top seed fought back impressively to beat the Estonian veteran 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-2 in Melbourne.

The fightback was a measure of revenge after Halep was stunned by 71st-ranked Kanepi at the US Open.

Halep, 27, will face American Sofia Kenin in round two.

“After losing against her in the US Open, it was a bit of pressure on my shoulders,” Halep said.

• ‘Struggling’ Azarenka tearful after loss
• Konta battles through to second round
• Williams sisters through in contrasting fashion
• Djokovic starts record bid with easy victory
• ‘Scary’ Raonic beats injury-hit Kyrgios

Kanepi’s victory in New York was one of the shocks of the tournament, with fate bringing the pair back together at 2019’s first Grand Slam.

Despite the gulf in their respective rankings, another victory for the Estonian may not have been a complete surprise.

In addition to Kanepi already having the measure of Halep, the reigning French Open champion had not won since August in a five-match losing streak, struggled with a back injury in the final part of last season and split with her coach Darren Cahill in November.

“I said I had no expectations coming here,” said Halep, who could lose the top ranking in Melbourne.

“Just giving my best to find the rhythm, which tonight was a great level of tennis. I feel like I am one step forward.”

And when she went a set and a break down against big-hitting Kanepi, it looked as though it could be another blow for last year’s runner-up.

But Halep bounced back instantly, Kanepi losing her nerve with a double fault on break point, then continued scrapping to eventually level the match by taking her fourth break point in the 10th game.

The final set stayed on serve at 3-2 in Halep’s favour – and then the Romanian struck.

Fighting back from 40-0 down to take Kanepi’s serve proved pivotal, the veteran visibly sapping as a result and winning only two more points as Halep moved into the next round.

“I knew that she’s hitting the ball very strong and it was going to take time to get ahead,” Halep added.

“I didn’t give up, which was really important. I think that’s why I could win the match.”

Seed Kasatkina beaten by world 192

Elsewhere, Daria Kasatkina became the first top-10 women’s seed to fall as she was thrashed 6-3 6-0 by Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky in 55 minutes.

Russian 10th seed Kasatkina coughed up nine double faults and hit just six winners against 192nd-ranked Bacsinszky.

However, fourth seed Naomi Osaka of Japan began her campaign in confident fashion with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Magda Linette.

And sixth seed Elina Svitolina made it safely through with a 6-1 6-2 victory over Viktorija Golubic.

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