Stosur makes impressive start
Sam Stosur dropped just two games in her opening assignment at the Australian Open.
The Australian hope, whose face adorns numerous billboards around Melbourne, coped with the pressure admirably on Rod Laver Arena although she was rarely threatened by young American Lauren Davis, ranked 443 in the world.
Stosur cruised to a 6-1 6-1 win to join second seed Vera Zvonareva in round two and admitted afterwards she was pleased with her performance.
The fifth seed said: "I thought I played very well. There's not too much I did wrong, I don't think.
"I was able to set up points, rally well and when I got a chance to hit the winner, I did. So, yeah, a very good way to start the tournament."
Zvonareva was an equally emphatic winner, the Russian opening the day's action with a 6-2 6-1 win over Austrian Sybille Bammer in just 59 minutes.
Seeded second here, Zvonareva is hoping to go one better than her last two grand slam appearances which saw her lose in the final at Wimbledon and the US Open.
"I'm definitely happy with the way I played (but) it's very tough to play your best tennis in the first match and I think I struggled a little finding the rhythm out there," she said.
Also making progress on day two were Jelena Jankovic, Agnieszka Radwanska and Nadia Petrova.
Seventh seed Jankovic saw off a second-set fightback to knock out Alla Kudryavtseva 6-0 7-6 (7/5), Radwanska, seeded 12, required three sets to oust Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm while number 13 Petrova crushed Ksenia Pervak 6-2 6-1.
