Maria,Azarenka advance at Australian Open

Victoria Azarenka and ex- titlist Maria Sharapova were first-round victory in Tuesday's action at the Aussie Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.

Australian Open

Australian Open day 2 at Melbourne Park, the former world No. 1 Victoria, seeded second, defeated Swede Johanna Larsson 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, as the third-seeded former top-ranked star Maria handled Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 6-4.

Victoria Azarenka, who lost to the great Serena in a final in Sydney two weeks ago, was tested at Rod Laver Arena.

"Yes it was a tough set first. The match was going to be risky ... the weather was not helping," Victoria Azarenka said. "I had to play a little bit and find my pace."

Victoria hasn't lost at this tournament since 2011, as she defeated twice runner-up Li Na in last year's final and Sharapova in the 2012 championship match.

Her second-round challenger on Thursday will be Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, whereas up next for the career Grand Slam winner Maria will be Italian Karin Knapp. Sharapova reached the semifinals the last two years in Melbourne, titled here in 2008, and is a two-time Australian runner-up.

In the meantime, fifth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska had her hands full with Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, but ultimately posted a 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 victory, and eighth-seeded former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia whipped Japan's Misaki Doi 6-1, 6-2.

Radwanska who is former Wimbledon runner-up second-round opponent will be Belarusian Olga Govortsova.

10th-seeded former top-ranked star Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark drilled Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-0, 6-2, while 11th-seeded rising Romanian Simona Halep also had little difficulty in a 6-0, 6-1 

Victory over Poland's Katarzyna Piter, and 13th-seeded American Sloane Stephens erased Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6 (7-1), 6-3. Stephens shocked Serena Williams in a quarterfinal bout here a year ago.

Playing her first Grand Slam tournament since her New Year's Eve engagement to Rory McIlroy, Wozniacki did all she could to keep cool on Tuesday.

Also on Day 3 of the Australian Open, 14th-seeded former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic will face German Annika Beck and 15th-seeded Wimbledon runner-up  Germany’s Sabine Lisicki will tangle with Romanian Monica Niculescu.