Live updates: Australian Open tennis, day one at Melbourne Park

United States' Serena Williams reacts during her first round match against Russia's Anastasia Potapova at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne. Photo / AP

ROD LAVER ARENA

Naomi Osaka (3) defeated Marie Bouzkova 6-2 6-4

Serena Williams (8) defeated Anastasia Potapova 6-0 6-3

Roger Federer (3) vs Steve Johnson

Ash Barty (1) vs Lesia Tsurenko

Novak Djokovic (2) vs Jan-Lennard Struff

MARGARET COURT ARENA

Marton Fucsovics defeated Denis Shapovalov (13) 3-6 7-6 1-6 6-7

Petra Kvitova (7) vs Katerina Siniakova

Venus Williams vs Coco Gauff

Stefanos Tsitsipas (6) vs Salvatore Caruso

Sloane Stephens (24) vs Shuai Zhang

MELBOURNE ARENA

From 11am: Matteo Berrettini (8) defeated Andrew Harris 6-3 6-1 6-3

Kristie Ahn vs Caroline Wozniacki

Grigor Dimitrov (18) vs Juan Ignacio Londero

Sam Stosur vs Caty McNally

Marton Fucsovics of Hungary reacts during his first-round match against Denis Shapovalov of Canada. Photo / Getty Images

Serena dodges Megan Markle bait

Serena Williams was moving like a grand slam champion again on and off the court on the opening day of the Australian Open.

The 38-year-old was confronted by a prickly question as soon as she walked into her post-match press conference following her 6-0 6-3 win over Czech teenager Anastasia Potapova.

Williams was baited to weigh in to the ongoing Megxit storm in the United Kingdom following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to step away from the duties expected of members of the royal family.

In a rude shock for the former World No. 1, Williams was hit with the question first-up by an optimistic reporter.

"Your good friend, Meghan Markle, who attended your last two slams, and Harry, have taken a move, a stance that many people think is extraordinary and historic," the journalist began.

"What are your feelings about that? Have you spoken to her?"

A bemused Williams was too crafty to give the tabloids the fuel they were after.

"Yeah. I have absolutely no comments on anything with that," Williams said with a wry smile.

"But good try. You tried. You did good."

Williams was much more open when asked about her friendship with AFL star Dustin Martin.

A picture of the pair holidaying in the Maldives last year has fascinated Aussie sport fans – but Williams says the scenes of Martin meeting up with Williams at Melbourne Park this fortnight would simply be too chaotic for the pair to attempt any meet-ups.

"He's way too recognizable. I think everyone would go nuts if they saw him.It would be really crazy for him," Williams said.

"He's so good at his job. It's insane. It's so cool to get to know other athletes that are so good at their craft and almost just get to talk to them and see what makes them so good."

Williams is seeking an unprecedented eighth crown at Melbourne Park, but first since 2017.

15-year-old stuns Venus Williams

Coco Gauff, who was born in 2004, claimed her first round match against American legend Venus Williams in straight sets, 7-6 6-3.

Gauff had not been born yet when the elder Williams sister first made reached Australian Open final in 2003. In fact, Venus had already won four Grand Slam tournaments when Guaff was born.

The 15-year-old was not at her best during the opening hour of play, with Williams fighting back to force a tiebreak.

Unfortunately, Williams netted a volley at 6-5 in the tiebreak, the unforced error on the third set point giving Guaff the opener.

However, Guaff dominated the second set, breaking serve immediately to take a 3-0 lead. She was particularly destructive with her fast second serves, which were regularly clocking above 100m/h.

"I just want to say thank you guys so much. You guys were chanting my name and I only thought that would happen at US Open," Gauff said after the match.

"That was really difficult. She played really well. I was really nervous for today's match. I was shocked when I saw the draw."

Guaff rose to stardom during Wimbledon last year, reaching the fourth round in a steller run.

Federer cruises through after breaking Hewitt record

Roger Federer has begun his campaign for a record-equalling seventh Australian Open title with a convincing 6-3 6-2 6-2 opening-round victory over American Steve Johnson.

Federer was largely untroubled on Monday in ending the challenge of Johnson, setting up a second-round clash with French qualifier Quentin Halys or Serb Filip Krajinovic.

Novak Djokovic holds the record for most men's Australian Open singles titles with seven, including last year's triumph over Rafael Nadal.

Playing in his 21st Australian Open, Federer went ahead of Lleyton Hewitt (20) for the most appearances in the men's singles draw when he walked onto court against Johnson.

Red Hot Canadian crashes out

Feisty Canadian Denis Shapovalov was sent packing from the Australian Open in the first round Monday after an epic row with the umpire for throwing his racquet in frustration.

The world No.13 was beaten 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) by Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in a big upset on day one of the first Grand Slam of the year.

Considered one of the new generation who could challenge the Big Three of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, the 20-year-old lost the plot after being crushed in the third set.

The umpire warned him for throwing down his racquet and it didn't go down well with the temperamental Canadian.

"I'm not breaking any rules," he shouted at the official. "It's my racquet I can do whatever the hell I want with it.

"What are you talking about, I didn't break it," he added.

Speaking after the match, Shapovalov was still angry about the umpire's decision to hand him a code violation warning.

He said the official informed him he was being handed a warning because of repeated cases where he angrily tossed his racquet away.

Shapovalov insisted the code violation should have been overturned because his racquet didn't break and he was able to keep playing with it.

"You can't code me for slamming it," he said.

"I think that's a terrible call. He just said I kept doing it so he was going to code me, which is a terrible decision."

He said the match umpire should be held accountable for the decision.

"I think it's absolutely horrible. I'm going to get fined… he gets away with it.

"I didn't break my racquet or anything."

Serena completes demolition job

Serena Williams crushed Anastasia Potapova in straight sets to book a spot in the second round, winning 6-0 6-3.

The American needed less than 20 minutes to claim the first set but faced a sterner task in the second as her 18-year-old opponent pushed through her early nerves to ask the veteran some tough questions.

Williams eventually wrapped things up in 57 minutes.

Sam Querrey of the United States beat Borna Coric of Croatia in the first round. Photo / Getty Images

First major upset at the Open

Borna Coric became the first seeded player to be knocked out, losing in straight sets to Sam Querrey.

The unseeded American went through 6-3 6-4 6-4, robbing his Croatian opponent of the chance to repeat his 2019 run at Melbourne Park when he made it to the round of 16.

Aussie wildcard Andrew Harris lost his first-round match against Italian Matteo Berrettini in straight sets.

Osaka off to winning start

Defending champion Naomi Osaka started her campaign on the right foot, brushing past Marie Bouzkova 6-2 6-4.

She shrugged off getting broken midway through the second set, breaking back and then repeating the dose to close out the match in straight sets.

"Thank you everyone. You probably didn't come for me, but thanks for filling up the stadium," Osaka said in typically understated fashion during her on-court interview.

"Oh my god, she (Bouzkova) is younger than me. That's really tough. I just know she's going to be a great player and we're going to play a lot of matches.

"It was really tough for me to try and control my nerves."