Dominant Djokovic marches on in Melbourne

Yet she dropped just one service game against No. 34-ranked Giorgi, who struggled with 12 double-faults, including one on the decisive break point in the 11th game of the second set.

The fifth seed, attempting to win her first title at Melbourne Park since 2008, was in blistering first-round form and will be aiming to carry that over against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.

"You got to get yourself ready for whatever is coming your way", said Djokovic, who famously withdrew from his quarter- final against Andy Roddick in 2009 due to heat exhaustion.

"I think I was able to stay in it and stay calm today, and I think that's what matters most", she said before addressing the Melbourne crowd. "But I was really nice about it. He was really nice about it. It worked out". (Steffi Graf is the only woman to do so, a feat she accomplished in 1988.) But to do so, he would have to fare even better than previous year.

Williams, though, showed no signs of discomfort during a 6-4 7-5 win over Giorgi on Monday.

"It wasn't very easy".

British number one Jo Konta destroyed Venus Williams at the Australian Open to record the most spectacular win of her career.

Grunting at full volume, the Russian five-time Grand Slam victor was focused and in total control as she raced to a 3-0 lead in just 10 minutes. In 2014, Kumkhum beat Kvitova in three sets to send the then sixth-ranked player out of the tournament. "The body is feeling pretty good".

"I had a few problems in my foot but I think I am recovered now", the 2015 Wimbledon finalist said after breaking her opponent four times and being completely untroubled on her own serve.

The reports said that none of the players, who aren't identified by name, had faced any sanctions and more than half would be playing at this year's Australian Open.

Chung, ranked No. 52 in the world, is a rising star in the sport, but he met his match when taking on tennis' best player for the first time.

"I was approached through people that were working with me at that time, that were with my team", he said.

The weather also looks set to do its part in keeping temperatures high from the off at Melbourne Park with peaks of 37 degrees Celsius forecast for the opening day of the year's first tennis Grand Slam.

Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) chief Chris Kermode rejected any suggestion that match-fixing evidence had been covered up or ignored.

"The Tennis Integrity Unit and the tennis authorities absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match-fixing has been suppressed for any reason or isn't being thoroughly investigated", Kermode told reporters. Williams won the previous three major titles in 2015 starting at the Australian Open one year ago when she beat Maria Sharapova in the final for her sixth singles title Down Under.

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