Azarenka breezes in opener
<p>Victoria Azarenka of Belarus reaches for a forehand return to Britain's Heather Watson during their first-round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, on Monday.</p>
MELBOURNE, Australia - Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka won 12 straight games to finish off Heather Watson 6-1, 6-0 in 67 minutes Monday in the opening match on center court at the Australian Open.
Azarenka, one of six women who can finish atop the rankings depending on results at Melbourne Park, is coming off a win at the Sydney International last week.
"Well, the score is easy. To actually play the match, it's never easy, especially for me coming here only Saturday," Azarenka said, adding she was unsettled because she had to get to Melbourne Park so early there was nowhere open to buy her morning coffee.
"First time I actually hit on center court was today in the morning."
Li Na, who became the first player from China to win a Grand Slam singles title with her victory at the French Open last year, advanced to the second round with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan. Kim Clijsters was in action later Monday.
Azarenka beat Li in the Sydney final Friday night.
Eighth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska can take the top ranking by winning the Australian title. She had a battle on her hands just to make the second round, fending off American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-7 (10), 6-4, 6-2 in a three-hour match on Show Court 2.
Other women advancing included No. 20 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, No. 26 Anabel Medina of Spain. Eleni Daniilidou of Greece beat 41-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan 6-3, 6-2.
No. 30 Kevin Anderson of South Africa was the first man into the second round, beating Denmark's Frederik Nielsen 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, while 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro dropped the first set to France's Adrian Mannarino before advancing 2-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
Eighth-seeded Mardy Fish, the highest ranked of the U.S. men, had a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win over Gilles Muller to progress along with No. 7 Tomas Berdych, No. 10 Nicolas Almagro and No. 18 Feliciano Lopez.