Paolini races into round two to kickstart Australian Open

The seventh-seeded Italian outclassed Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.

Paolini faces Poland's Magdalena Frech or Veronika Erjavec of Slovenia next.

"It was pretty good today, I did not expect that," she said of her emphatic win in 69 minutes.

"Always tough to play first round. I played pretty good. I was solid, focused, so happy.

"Before the match I was a little nervous, to be honest, but then stepped on court and felt good from the first ball."

The 30-year-old broke her opponent's serve immediately and raced into a 3-0 lead in just 10 minutes.

She polished off the first set in 26 minutes and although Sasnovich put up more resistance in the second, Paolini ran out a comfortable winner.

Paolini reached the finals of Wimbledon and the French Open in 2024, but her best result at Melbourne Park is the fourth round in the same year.