Osaka starts Australian Open title-defense with victory over Bouzkova

It was Marie Bouzkova who stood in the way of Osaka in the first round of the Australian Open. However, it was not a big problem for young Japanese. World number 4 opened the first Grand Slam of the year with a 6-2 victory in the first set.

However, in the second set, Osaka was already 2-4 down. But she has won 16 out of the 22 points since that moment to win 4 games in a row and win the second set 6-4. In the 2nd round, she will meet no. 42 in the WTA Ranking, Saisai Zheng.

Other players successful during the first day include Serena Williams, Petra Martic, Ekaterina Alexandrova or Julia Goerges. The draw is packed with quality names and so players need to fight for their spot in the 2nd round. Bardosa and Zhu are also players who will play 2nd round at the first Grand Slam of the season.