No problems for Williams sisters

World number one Serena Williams maintained her remarkable unblemished record in the first round of grand slams with a 6-2 6-1 win over Urszula Radwanska at the Australian Open.

The defending champion has never lost an opening-round match in her 41 major appearances and was hardly troubled as she won in one hour and 17 minutes against the 19-year-old Pole.

‘I was a little nervous today because that (record) is always on the back of my mind,’ Williams said.

‘Records are meant to be broken so I'm like, 'God, I hope this record is not to be broken'. It's my personal record.

‘This one means a lot to me. That's something that I want to keep up for my career.’

Williams had come into the match under a fitness cloud after she limped through her final defeat by Elena Dementieva in Sydney last week.

The problem in Sydney was her knee but the 28-year-old appeared sporting a heavily-bandaged right thigh on Tuesday.

‘It's to support my hamstring,’ she said. ‘You know, just supportive and preventive, just to make sure that I don't have a Sydney moment.’

Williams was joined by her sister Venus, the sixth seed, in the next round after the 29-year-old defeated left-hander Lucie Safarova 6-2 6-2 in one hour and 12 minutes.

After Monday’s shock loss of 2008 champion Maria Sharapova, it was a good day for the seeded players in the women's draw.

Ana Ivanovic, who lost the final to Sharapova two years ago, outclassed qualifier Shenay Perry 6-2 6-3 while her fellow Serbian and eighth seed Jelena Jankovic was even more impressive in casting aside Monica Niculescu 6-4 6-0.

Both players were given rousing support from the Serbian fans in the crowd, and Jankovic admitted it was a welcome boost.

‘I really love that support,’ she said.

‘It's amazing how many people come to support me, and as well the other players. I think this event, it's very patriotic.

‘We have Serbian fans everywhere around the world but I think here it's a little bit more.’

Tenth seed Agnieszka Radwanska made up for the disappointment of sister Urszula's loss with a comprehensive 6-1 6-0 victory over Tatjana Malek while 11th seed Marion Bartoli beat Rossana De Los Rios 6-4 6-1.

Local hope Sam Stosur survived a scare on Rod Laver Arena as the 13th seed beat China's Xinyun Han 6-1 3-6 6-2.

The only two seeds to lose during the day session were France's 18th seed Virginie Razzano, who fell to Ekaterina Makarova 6-2 6-3, while Anabel Medina Garrigues, the 25th seed, lost out to Croatia's Karolina Sprem 6-3 6-2.