Serena Williams Rolls in Her First 2012 Australian Open Match

Serena Williams has begun her quest for a sixth Australian Open title, and despite the fact that she's said that she doesn't exactly love the sport, she rolled over her opponent Tamira Paszek.

Williams was forced to wait for her chance out of the blocks, as she played at Rod Laver Arena, and the prior match, Australian Lleyton Hewitt vs. Cedrik-Marcel Stebe took longer than expected to complete. It took four sets for Hewitt to win the match, 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Hewitt will now play American Andy Roddick in Round 2.

Once she got on the court, Serena Williams dispatched Tamira Paszek reasonably quickly, in 1 hour and 19 minutes, 6-3, 6-2. In the second round, Williams, seeded No. 12, will face German Sabine Lisicki, seeded 14th, who defeated Stefanie Voegele in a three-set match, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

There were concerns coming into the Australian Open, as an ankle injury forced her to withdraw from a tuneup event in Brisbane two weeks ago. Williams herself said "... it was a very, very bad sprain ... I tore a couple ligaments."

However, there were no signs of issues with Williams' court movement. Instead, it seemed the No. 45-ranked Paszek put up a great fight.

Williams didn't seem to really take control until the the second set. With the score tied at 2-all, Williams broke Paszek's serve for a 3-2 lead. She then aced the Austrian four times in the next game to gain a 4-2 lead. After breaking Paszek again, Williams set up match point with an ace, then used a service winner to finish the match in 79 minutes.

Williams comes into the tournament with more challenges than her ankle and opponents. She arrived at the tournament less than a month after her family's longtime behind-the-scenes adviser, Kevin Davis, died from a brain tumor. Davis, 54, died just two days before Christmas.

Speaking on Sunday, Williams said, "I've known him [Davis] since I was like 8 years old, so it was really, really tough for us. That's been really, really hard on me."

Coming into the 2012 Australian Open, Willams' 27 Grand Slam titles places her ninth on the all-time list: 13 in singles, 12 in women's doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. Among active players, that number is tops.

In singles those Grand Slam wins include the Australian Open (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010), French Open (2002), Wimbledon (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010), and the US Open (1999, 2002, 2008).

In doubles, those Grand Slam wins include the Australian Open (2001, 2003, 2009, 2010), French Open (1999, 2010), Wimbledon (2000, 2002, 2008, 2009), and the US Open (1999, 2009).

In mixed doubles, those Grand Slam wins include Wimbledon (1998) and the US Open (1998).

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