Australian Open 2017 Results: Winners, Scores, Stats from Tuesday's Singles

Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams started their Australian Open campaigns in fine style with victories in Round 1 on Tuesday. 

Djokovic proved too strong for Fernando Verdasco at the Rod Laver Arena, while Williams, bidding to surpass Steffi Graf's total of 22 Open-era Grand Slam titles, cruised to a 6-4, 6-3 win over Belinda Bencic.

The biggest surprise of the day came in the women's draw as Great Britain's Heather Watson knocked out 18th seed Sam Stosur 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.

There were also victories for Rafael Nadal, Milos Raonic and Johanna Konta on Day 2 at Melbourne Park.

Here are all the results from the day's action:

Women's Bracket	Score
Nicole Gibbs bt (25) Timea Babos	7-6 (7-3), 6-4
Anna Blinkova bt Monica Niculescu	6-2, 4-6, 6-4
(21) Caroline Garcia bt Kateryna Bondarenko	7-6 (7-4), 6-4
(9) Johanna Konta bt Kirsten Flipkens	7-5, 6-2
Lucie Safarova bt Yanina Wickmayer	3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1
(30) Ekaterina Makarova bt Ekaterina Alexandrova	6-0, 4-6, 6-1
Oceane Dodin bt Cagla Buyukakcay	7-5, 6-7 (1-7), 6-2
Irina Falconi bt Xinyun Han	6-1, 7-5
Su-Wei Hsieh bt Karin Knapp	6-3, 2-0 (ret)
Naomi Osaka bt Luksika Kumkhum	6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 7-5
(5) Karolina Pliskova bt Sara Sorribes Tormo	6-2, 6-0
(2) Serena Williams bt Belinda Bencic	6-4, 6-3
(31) Yulia Putintseva bt Lara Arrubarrena	7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (12-10)
Donna Vekic bt Lizette Cabrera	7-5, 6-2
(14) Elena Vesnina bt Ana Bogdan	7-5, 6-2
(28) Alize Cornet bt Myrtille Georges	6-3, 4-6, 6-1
Sara Errani bt Risa Ozaki	7-5, 6-1
Jelena Ostapenko bt Lin Zhu	6-4, 6-0
Maria Sakkari bt Anett Kontaveit	6-0,6-4
(6) Dominika Cibulkova bt Denisa Allertova	7-5, 6-2
Heather Watson bt (18) Sam Stosur	6-3, 3-6, 6-0
Mandy Minella bt Magda Linette	7-5, 6-4
(17) Caroline Wozniacki bt Arina Rodionova	6-1, 6-2
Jennifer Brady bt Maryna Zanevska	6-3, 6-2
(12) Timea Bacsinszky bt Camila Giorgi	6-4, 3-6, 7-5
Danka Kovinic bt Saisai Zheng	6-0, 6-4
Ana Konjuh bt Kristina Mladenovic	6-4, 6-2
Andrea Petkovic bt Kayla Day	6-3, 6-2
(16) Barbora Strycova bt Elizaveta Kulichkova	6-3, 6-2
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni bt Qiang Wang	4-6, 6-3, 6-4
(22) Daria Gavrilova bt Naomi Broady	3-6, 6-4, 7-5
(3) Agnieszka Radwanska bt Tsvetana Pironkova	6-1, 4-6, 6-1
Men's Bracket	Score
(32) Philipp Kohlschreiber bt Nikoloz Basilashvili	6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
Rogerio Dutra Silva bt Jared Donaldson	3-6, 0-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
Donald Young bt Thomas Fabbiano	6-4, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4
(25) Gilles Simon bt Michael Mmoh	6-1, 6-3, 6-3
(24) Alexander Zverev bt Robin Haase	6-2, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
Carlos Berlocq bt Radu Albot	6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 7-6 (10-8)
Yoshihito Nishioka bt Alex Bolt	6-4, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
(3) Milos Raonic bt Dustin Brown	6-3, 6-4, 6-2
(11) David Goffin bt Reilly Opelka	6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
Frances Tiafoe bt Mikhail Kukushkin	6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-2
Pablo Carreno Busta bt Peter Polansky	6-0, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 3-0 (ret)
(9) Rafael Nadal bt Florian Mayer	6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Kyle Edmund bt Santiago Giraldo	6-2, 7-5, 6-3
Marcos Baghdatis bt Mikhail Youzhny	6-3, 3-0 (ret)
(8) Dominic Thiem bt Jan-Lennard Struff	4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
Gilles Muller bt Taylor Fritz	7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
Andrew Whittington bt Adam Pavlasek	6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
(13) Roberto Bautista Agut bt Guido Pella	6-3, 6-1, 6-1
(18) Richard Gasquet bt Blake Mott	6-4, 6-4, 6-2
Alexandr Dolgopolov bt Borna Coric	6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7)
Jordan Thompson bt Joao Sousa	6-7 (2-7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1
Radek Stepanek bt Dmitry Tursunov	6-2, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
Ernesto Escobedo bt Daniil Medvedev	7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
Hyeon Chung bt Renzo Olivo	6-2, 6-3, 6-2
(21) David Ferrer bt Omar Jasika	6-3, 6-0, 6-2
Benoit Paire bt Tommy Haas	7-6 (7-2), 6-4 (ret)
(6) Gael Monfils bt Jiri Vesely	6-2, 6-3, 6-2
Fabio Fognini bt (28) Feliciano Lopez	7-5, 6-3, 7-5
(15) Grigor Dimitrov bt Christopher O'Connell	7-6 (7-2), 6-3, 6-3
(2) Novak Djokovic bt Fernando Verdasco	6-1, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
(20) Ivo Karlovic bt Horacio Zeballos	6-7 (6-8), 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 22-20
Denis Istomin bt Ivan Dodig	6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5

Safe passage for Djokovic

Djokovic has won this title for the last two years and laid down an early marker against Verdasco.

The Spaniard blew the chance to beat Djokovic in their semi-final encounter at the Qatar Open earlier in January, squandering five match points.

And Djokovic was not about to let the match get that close this time around as, after steamrolling Verdasco in a 32-minute opening set, he triumphed in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

"In terms of performance, I started really well", Djokovic told the Australian Open website. "Great first set, great third set, as well. Second set was a long set with a lot of unforced errors from both sides. It was a gamble, really."

GREG WOOD/Getty Images

Indeed, the match was a scrappy affair at times and both players racked up their share of unforced errors—Djokovic registering 34 to Verdasco's 56.

No. 2 seed Djokovic goes on to face Denis Istomin in the second round on Thursday.

No trouble for Serena

It was business as usual for Williams as she began her bid to win a sixth Australian Open title.

As noted by Craig O’Shannessy of the tournament's official website, it was fast and furious stuff as statistics revealed more than 80 per cent of the total points in the match featured a maximum of just two shots per player.

Williams lost in last year's final to Angelique Kerber but showed she was already focusing on progressing deep into this year's event as she made light work of the challenge posed by Bencic, the world No. 59 from Switzerland.

BBC Sport captured the reaction of Williams following victory:

Elsewhere, Ivo Karlovic clocked up a monstrous history-making total of 75 aces as he came from two sets down to edge a five-set marathon over Horacio Zeballos.

The towering Croatian double-faulted 12 times in the match but that was outweighed by his sheer skill on serve, which saw him send down 38 aces in a titanic 22-20 closing set.