The first round of the Australian Open was completed as the top half of the women's draw was in action with top seed Ashleigh Barty, fourth seed and defending champion Sofia Kenin, fifth seed Elina Svitolina and sixth seed Karolina Pliskova among the winners.
Seeded losers were 12th seed Victoria Azarenka, 13th seed Johanna Konta, 16th seed Petra Martic and 20th seed Maria Sakkari.
Barty, Svitolina, Pliskova cruise; Kenin struggles in victory over Inglis
Playing her first match in nearly a year, Barty needed just 44 minutes to double bagel Danka Kovinic 6-0, 6-0. The world number one lost just 10 points in the match as she extends her winning streak to six matches.
The Aussie won the first 16 points of the match and was perfect at net, saying after the match "right from the start I set the tone and was able to run away with it.
"I'm not thinking about the double bagel at all until we have shaken hands. It's more about continuing to do the things that have worked throughout the whole matches. Really trying to press the momentum."
Svitolina won 70 percent of her first serve points in a 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over Marie Bouzkova while Pliskova hit six aces in a thorough 6-0, 6-2 victory over Jasmine Paolini that lasted just 47 minutes. The Czech has won 18 straight first round matches at majors.
Kenin won her eighth straight match in Melbourne, but not without its difficulty as she advanced past Maddison Inglis 7-5, 6-4. The 133rd-ranked Aussie jumped out to a 3-1 first set lead before the American rallied to take the set.
Building a 3-1 second set lead, Kenin watched as Inglis leveled the set before winning three of the final four games to reach the second round.
"Some nerves coming in", she said after the match. "I'm sure everyone saw that. It's obviously nice to get the win. I obviously love the court, have great memories. It was a little bit emotional."
Other seeded results
11th seed Belinda Bencic needed three sets to get by Lauren Davis 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 while 18th seed Elise Mertens blew past Leylah Annie Fernandez 6-1, 6-3 and 21st seed Anett Kontaveit beat Aliaksandr Sasnovich 7-5, 6-2.
22nd seed Jennifer Brady had no problems in beating Aliona Bolsova 6-1, 6-3, 25th seed Karolina Muchova got by Jelena Ostapenko 7-5, 6-2, 26th seed Yulia Putintseva rallied past Sloane Stephens 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Finally, 28th seed Donna Vekic was victorious over Yafan Wang by a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 score while 29th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova eased past Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-4.
Azarenka was upset by Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-4, Konta retired with an abdomen injury leading Kaja Juvan 6-4, 0-2, Martic was stunned by Olga Danilovic 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 and Sakkari fell to Kristina Mladenovic 6-2, 0-6, 6-3.
Aussie women have mixed day
Joining Barty in round two were Samantha Stosur, granted a wild card, knocking off countrywoman Destinee Aiava 6-4, 6-4 and Daria Gavrilova, who closed out play with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo.
Arina Rodionova lost to Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-2 and Astra Sharma was edged out by Nao Hibino 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to join Inglis and Aiava on the sidelines.
Other results
Barbora Krejcikova knocked off Saisai Zheng 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, Heather Watson needed two tiebreaks to beat Kristyna Pliskova 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), Shelby Rogers routed Francesca Jones 6-4, 6-1 and Svetlana Kuznetsova crushed Barbora Strycova 6-2, 6-2.
Lin Zhu demolished Whitney Osuigwe 6-1, 6-1, Mona Barthel overcame Elisabetta Cocciaretto 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, Danielle Collins blasted Ana Bogdan 6-3, 6-1, Kaia Kanepi brushed aside Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-1 and Nadia Podoroska got by Christina McHale 6-4, 6-4.
Finally, Mayar Sherif became the first Egyptian woman to win a main draw match at a Grand Slam with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Chloe Paquet while Cori Gauff routed Jil Teichmann 6-3, 6-2 and Alison Van Uytvanck battled past Clara Burel 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
