BRISBANE, Australia – Victoria Azarenka wasted little time getting her 2016 season up and running with a brisk win over Elena Vesnina in the first round of the Brisbane International.

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In a merciless display, former champion Azarenka broke six times to wrap up a 6-2, 6-0 win and set up an intriguing second round meeting with top seed Simona Halep.

The previous meeting between the two came at last year’s US Open. On that occasion Halep came out on top in three thrilling sets and she is expecting another stern examination from the former World No.1

“Very tough. Yeah, I’m looking forward to start this year. I’m excited. I know that that’s not easy, because every time the first match of the year is difficult mentally as well and physically,” Halep said.

“It will be a nice match I think. Will be very hard and a big challenge for me. Again, I played against her in US Open, so I’m looking forward to play against her and to see how good I can play in the first match of the year.”

Vesnina, who had to come through three rounds of qualifying to secure her first round berth, started brightly enough, a couple of smart winners helping her break to love in the second game. This, however, would be the last time she troubled the scoreboard.

She was not able to hang onto this lead for long, Azarenka flicking an angled backhand to hit back immediately. From this point she moved through the gears effortlessly, barely putting a foot wrong over the next hour, threading one final backhand past Vesnina to add the final flourish to a near immaculate display.

The statistics as well as the scoreline made pleasant reading, the Belarusian complementing an impressive serving display – she struck four aces and a healthy 74% first serve percentage – with a typically polished display from the baseline, producing 22 winners and just seven unforced errors.

“I was happy to be on the court. It’s been a while since I’ve been out there playing an actual match. It’s been a lot of practice, so I was just happy to go out there and play and be in front of the crowd and just compete,” Azarenka said. “So I was happy to be able to do that and play well.”