Serena Williams battled the wind but got it under control to start her run at the Brisbane International with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over fellow American Varvara Lepchenko on Sunday.
Williams was the first of the three top WTA women to make her appearance and start the 2013 season. Victoria Azarenka, the world number one, takes the top seeding ahead of number two Maria Sharapova.
Williams struggled with the conditions in the 59-minute rout as she ran her match record since June to 32-1, a period encompassing titles at Wimbledon, the London Olympics, the US Open and the year-end championships in Istanbul.
Williams, 31, was joined in the second round by fellow former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova as the sixth-seeded Czech defeated Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-4. Kvitova won the title in 2011, her last appearance in Queensland.
Kvitova will next face Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated Czech Lucie Hradecka 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Urszula Radwanska gave Austrian Tamira Paszek a 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 season-opening start and Daniela Hantuchova defeated Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-5, 6-2 Australian wildcard Jarmila Gajdosova won her first match since passing the first round of the French Open in late May. She broke her duck over 18-ranked Italian Roberta Vinci 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
