Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka wasted little time in breezing into the second round as the Australian Open began on Monday, three weeks later than originally scheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Japan’s Osaka, the third seed, struck the first serve on Rod Laver Arena against Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the women’s singles and strode to touch racquets with her opponent at the net just 68 minutes later after a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
“I was really nervous coming into this match. I just wanted to play well,” Osaka told a smattering of spectators on the socially-distanced centre court. She will face France’s Caroline Garcia in the second round.