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Venus and Serena through in Melbourne

  • Story Highlights
  • Serena and Venus Williams win first round matches at Australian Open
  • 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo beats Olgo Govortsova in straight sets
  • Elena Dementieva of Russia struggles into second round at Melbourne Park
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(CNN) -- Serena and Venus Williams began their Australian Open campaigns with straight sets victories at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.

Serena pummels a backhand during her opening round win in Melbourne.

Serena pummels a backhand during her opening round win in Melbourne.

Three-time former champion Serena Williams swept aside Chinese opponent Yuan Meng 6-3 6-2 on the Rod Laver Arena, while Venus beat German Angelique Kerber 6-3 6-3.

Serena, 27, was only troubled by the heat and glare from the court rather than the inexperienced Yuan.

She broke serve in the fourth game before closing out the opener and raced to a 4-0 lead in the second before Yuan put a measure of respectability on the score by twice holding service.

"It was a little hot for me today," Serena told Press Association.

"But I was able to just, you know, take my time and play a lot slower, not giving a thousand percent," she added.

Elder sister Venus however, was made to work much harder by Kerber with a series of extended rallies on the Hisense Arena.

Venus raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening set before Kerber finally held service and broke her American opponent for good measure.

The German again held for 5-3 but Venus finally wrapped up the set with an ace.

Kerber took a 3-1 advantage with an early break in the second set, but once Wimbledon champion Venus had retrieved the break it was one-way traffic.

"I think she played well. She was left-handed and I think she used that to her advantage," sixth seed Venus said.

"I was really happy to be out there and hit a lot of balls and find a rhythm and advance."

Fourth seed Elena Dementieva of Russia, one of the tournament favorites after wins in Auckland and Sydney, dropped the second set before beating Kristina Barrois of Germany, 7-6 2-6 6-1.

"I was worried," admitted Dementieva.

"I think she played really well, had nothing to lose and really went for her shots."

2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo, who played well in Sydney before injury forced her to pull out, also went through with a 6-4 6-3 win over Olgo Govortsova of the Belarus.

It sets up a second round clash with British qualifier Elena Baltacha, who beat German Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-1 6-4.

Ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who reached the quarterfinals last year, was the leading casualty on the second day, the Pole losing to Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine in three sets, 7-6 4-6 6-1.

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