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.
Larsson had two opportunities to serve out the first set when leading 5-4 then 6-5 only for Azarenka to break back both times, which saw the Swede's resolve melt away as the two-times champion won the tie-break 7-2.
Azarenka, who is bidding to become the first woman to win three successive Melbourne Park titles since Martina Hingis (1997-99), broke in the third game of the second set to take control and pushed on to seal the match.
She will face Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei or Czech Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova in the second round.
Image: Victoria Azarenka of Belarus plays a forehand in her first round match against Johanna Larsson of Sweden at the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Tuesday
Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
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