The world No.1 Ash Barty has dispatched her first Australian Open opponent with hardly a point lost, winning against Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko 6-0, 6-1.
The straight-sets victory came in just 54 minutes, and following a strong showing at the season's opening in Adelaide, cements Barty's place as the favourite to win at her home Grand Slam.
It's not the first time the Ngarigo woman and the European have gone head to head, with a 2020 battle proving a tougher match.
But a steely-eyed Barty wasted no time in making her mark, tying up the first set in only 24 minutes.
Not content to remain just a tennis player at the top of her game, Barty proved the consummate sportswoman and role model yet again in her post match interview, expressing the importance of her Indigenous heritage.
"I'm a proud Ngarigo woman, a very very proud Indigenous woman," she said to cheers from the Open crowd.
"I love my heritage, I love to celebrate my heritage. It's what connects me to all of you here today. It's what connects me to the land.
"I think it's a beautiful way to express who I am... (and) to stay connected with so many people and First Nations people around Australia."
The staunch remarks came after a similarly sleek second set, with Barty racing through the first five games.
She spurned two match points on Tsurenko's serve that could have earned her first-round double-bagel wins at the Open two years in a round.
But the Wimbledon champion made no mistake on her own serve, closing out victory in less than an hour.
It came the same day it was announced Barty had donated the outfit she wore during her 2021 Wimbledon triumph, which was a poignant nod to her idol Evonne Goolagong Cawley, to the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.
Barty will play Lucia Bronzetti on Wednesday after the Italian qualifier beat Russia's Varvara Gracheva 3-6 6-2 6-3.
