American great Serena Williams has stamped her mark early at the ASB Classic, with a comprehensive 6-3 6-2 win over Camila Giorgi in her first-round match on Tuesday.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion needed just over an hour to overcome the Italian and advance to the round of 16 in Auckland.
After a relatively tentative start, Williams found her rhythm towards the end of the first set and winners began to flow against the game Giorgi.
"I've always had really tough matches against Camila," Williams said in her post-match interview.
"It's really good to know I still have some power left in my arms and my legs."
Defending champion Julia Goerges had to fight in her opening tie against Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen, battling back to claim the second set in a tie break to emerge a 6-1 7-6 winner.
Meanwhile, there was no fairytale for 20-year-old Kiwi wildcard entry Paige Mary Hourigan, who was outclasssed by Caroline Wozniacki 6-1 6-0.
In other action on day two, third seed Amanda Anisimova made light work of Kateryna Kozlova, coasting to a 6-3 6-4 win.
Croatia's Petra Martic prevailed 7-5 4-6 4-6 in a near three-hour tussle against American Usue Arconada, while Frenchwoman Alize Cornet earned a hard-fought 4-6 7-5 6-3 victory over Belgian Ysaline Bonaventure.
