19 Jan 2012

Serena Williams posts scratchy first up win at Australian Open

12:25 pm on 19 January 2012

The five-time champion American tennis player Serena Williams has started her Australian Open campaign with a scratchy 6-3 6-2 win over Austria's Tamira Paszek in Melbourne.

Williams entered Rod Laver Arena with heavy strapping on both ankles and only two matches under her belt in five months.

Next she will face Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the second round.

But Australia's US Open champion Sam Stosur, has been defeated 7-6,6-3 by Romania's Sorana Cirstea.

Yet local fans did have something to cheer about when Lleyton Hewitt rattled off six successive games and come back from a 5-1 fourth set deficit to beat Germany's Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and advance to the second round.

The Australian will now face 15th-seed Andy Roddick, who beat Dutchman Robin Haase 6-3 6-4 6-1.

British fourth seed Andy Murray lost the first set of his match to American teenager Ryan Harrison but was untroubled thereafter to win in four sets.

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