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5 years ago

Serena storms thru’ to second round

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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, reports BBC.

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.

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