Defending champion Victoria Azarenka has booked her place in round two of the 2014 Australian Open.
The second seed, who is aiming to win the Melbourne Grand Slam for a third consecutive year, took 105 minutes to beat Sweden's Johanna Larsson 7-6 6-2.
Both women were broken three times in the opening set. Larsson twice failed to serve out, resulting in a tie-break, which Azarenka won 7-2.
Larsson failed to create a single break point in the second set, while Azarenka converted two of two.
Azarenka hit 27 winners and 31 unforced errors in the match. She doubled-faulted seven times and did not serve a single ace.
Next up for the Belarusian is a second-round clash with Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who overcame Hsieh Su-wei 6-1 4-6 6-1.
Written by
Robert Summerscales
Robert Summerscales
