Victoria Azarenka's quest for her third successive Australian Open title took a little while to get going before she finally overcame a feisty Johanna Larsson 7-6, 6-2 in their first round match at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
With a 6-2, 6-1 3rd round win over Swedish Johanna Larsson at the US Open at Flushing Meadows on Saturday, Serena recorded her 307th Grand Slam victory and in doing so went past legendary Martina Novratilova to record the most wins in a major by a woman.
Victoria Azarenka made a stuttering start to her bid for a third straight Australian Open title on Tuesday when she was kept out in the Melbourne heat for 106 minutes by Johanna Larsson before sealing her place in the second round.
Maria Sharapova continued her marauding form in handing out a 6-2, 6-1 thrashing to Sweden's Rebecca Peterson
Former champion Ana Ivanovic slumped to a 7-6, 0-6, 6-2 first round defeat to unheralded Swede Johanna Larsson at the French Open on Tuesday.
Both will play their second-round singles matches on Thursday.
Multiple Grand Slam champions Serena and Venus Williams withdrew from women's doubles competition at the Australian Open on Wednesday before first round action got underway.
Venus Williams moved within two wins of a possible sisterly showdown with Serena in the semi-finals of the US Open by beating German 26th seed Laura Siegemund to reach the fourth round on Saturday.
Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska put on a dominant performance against double defending champion Petra Kvitova to ease into the final of the Connecticut Open with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph on Friday.
Petra Kvitova moved closer to a third straight Connecticut Open crown after defeating Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals on Thursday.
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza lost their cool as their hopes of holding all four grand slam titles were dashed following a 6-3, 6-2 defeat by Czech duo Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the third round of the French Open on Sunday.
'When she hits her peak she's so dangerous because she moves well.'
Bencic broke Aiava at love to open the match, one of the six break points she converted, and was never really tested as the 18-year-old Australian made 24 unforced errors.
Serena Williams will try to take a step closer to history on Saturday when she plays her third-round match at the US Open.
Two-time winner Petra Kvitova and world number three Karolina Pliskova will be tough to beat at Wimbledon because the tournament's grass courts suit their games down to the ground, Serena Williams' coach Patrick Mouratoglou has said.
American teenager Amanda Anisimova, fresh off an impressive run at Indian Wells, beat China's Wang Qiang 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 at the Miami Open on Tuesday to set up a second round clash with Spanish third seed Garbine Muguruza.
IMAGES from the Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Wednesday
Rafael Nadal left German qualifier Yannick Maden no hope as he booked his ticket for the third round of the French Open in ruthless fashion with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Top seed Serena Williams turned an early challenge into an eventual cakewalk as she beat Russian-born Yulia Putintseva 7-6(2), 6-0 in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in California on Sunday.
Fifth seed Maria Sharapova averted an early exit on a sweltering day in Flushing Meadows. Updates from Wednesday's play.
Images from all the action from Day 1 of the Wimbledon on Monday.
The Danish World No 3 ended 2017 with the biggest title of her career in Singapore and returned a day after thrashing Madison Brengle in her season opener to hit 21 winners against eight unforced errors in the 53-minute win over Martic.
IMAGES from the Australian Open matches played on Monday
Images from Day 4 of the US Open in New York on Thursday.
IMAGES from the Australian Open on Tuesday.
IMAGES of the all the action from Day 1 of the Australian Open played at Melbourne Park on Monday
Former world number one Andy Murray withdrew from the Brisbane International with a hip problem on Tuesday, further putting in doubt the Briton's prospects of being fit in time for the Australian Open later this month.
It was a day of surprises at Flushing Meadows in New York as seeded players were knocked out one after the other on Friday.
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