Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka won 12 consecutive games to finish off Heather Watson 6-1, 6-0 in 67 minutes Monday in the opening match on center court at the Australian Open.
Eighth-seeded Mardy Fish, the highest ranked of the U.S. men, had a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Gilles Muller to progress along with No. 7 Tomas Berdych, No. 10 Nicolas Almagro and No. 18 Feliciano Lopez.
Eighth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska fended off American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-7 (10), 6-4, 6-2 in a three-hour match on Show Court 2. Mattek-Sands hit a stunning 81 winners but also had 65 unforced errors.
Other women advancing included No. 20 Daniela Hantuchova and No. 26 Anabel Medina. Eleni Daniilidou of Greece beat 41-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan 6-3, 6-2.
No. 30 Kevin Anderson was the first man into the second round, beating Frederik Nielsen 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, while 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro dropped the first set to Adrian Mannarino before advancing 2-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
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