Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic win at Australian Open

Serena Williams beat Justine Henin to win her most recent Australian Open title back in 2010

• Williams, Djokovic & Wawrinka through

• Berdych announces engagement

• Wozniacki sorry to see Gerrard leave Liverpool

• Sharapova misses out on selfie

World number one Serena Williams overcame a second-set wobble to beat Belgian Alison van Uytvanck 6-0 6-4 in the Australian Open first round.

The five-time champion, who has not been past the last eight since 2010, breezed through the first set, but was put under pressure before prevailing.

Four-time winner Novak Djokovic beat Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene 6-3 6-2 6-4 in the men's competition.

Defending champion Stan Wawrinka saw off Turkey's Marsel Ilhan 6-1 6-4 6-2.

Czech fourth seed Petra Kvitova opened with a 6-1 6-4 win over Dutch qualifier Richel Hogenkamp in the women's draw.

Stan returns as the man

Fans were keen to get Wawrinka's autograph after the defending champion's first-round win

Wawrinka enjoyed the experience of walking out on to Rod Laver Arena as the defending champion but after a week in Melbourne, he feels ready to focus on the "new tournament".

"It was great," said the Swiss. "I was happy to be back on the court. I can feel that I have a lot of support here, and it's always nice to come back like that and to feel the crowd behind you."

Djokovic had suffered with an illness that restricted his practice time at Melbourne Park, but the world number one believes he is now up to speed.

"It has been a rough couple of weeks but it is behind me now," the Serb said. "I'm proud of how I responded."

Tough at the top (of the draw)

Former world number one Wozniacki is seeking her first Grand Slam title

There is always a part of the draw that is best avoided and this week it has thrown together two-time US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka in round two.

The pair came through similarly testing first rounds, with Wozniacki beating talented US teen Taylor Townsend 7-6 (7-1) 7-2 and Azarenka seeing off American Sloane Stephens 6-3 6-2.

Long-time friends and rivals, Wozniacki leads their head-to-head 4-3 going into Thursday's contest.

"I've known her since juniors, I think back when we were maybe 13, when she was 14, somewhere around that," said Wozniacki. "We've competed for a very long time. So we go way back."

Berdych bliss

Tomas Berdych and fiancee Ester Satorova were more than happy to pose for the cameras

After Li Na's announcement on Monday that she is expecting a baby, Tuesday's feel-good story came on the banks of Melbourne's Yarra river.

Tomas Berdych announced his engagement to Ester Satorova at Melbourne's Royal Botanical Gardens before posing for the cameras.

It's back to the day job on Wednesday for Tomas, when he takes on Jurgen Melzer in the second round.

Quotes of the day

Milos Raonic poses for a "selfie" with fans after his victory against Ukraine's Illya Marchenko

"I'm a little sad. I'm going to have my Stevie G jerseys hanging somewhere. Unfortunately he won't be playing there any more. I'll have to make a trip probably to L.A. to have a look again. But 17 seasons, it's a long time." Liverpool fan Caroline Wozniacki is coming to terms with the departure of Steven Gerrard.

"My wife says I'm pretty good. I can't say more than that." Novak Djokovic passes the buck on the nappy-changing question.

"I don't know. I'm still growing up. It's like the biggest job in the world. As much responsibility as I've taken on in my life, that still seems daunting." Venus Williams was also asked about parenthood, and if she would like to be a mother, after former champion Li Na announced her pregnancy.

"Next question, really." Milos Raonic refuses to bite on fellow Canadian Eugenie Bouchard's suggestion that he is obsessed by his hair.

"I have like a ratio, not over 20 fist pumps or under 15. There has never been a statistic about fist pumping. I think you guys could have some fun with that." Victoria Azarenka reacts to a claim that she reached a new level of fist pumping in her win over Sloane Stephens.

Non-selfie of the day

Maria Sharapova is left hanging by her hitting partner. "Someone doesn't like #selfies. Oh well," she tweeted.