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MELBOURNE - Amelie Mauresmo cruised through the opening match of her Australian Open title defence, beating American Shenay Perry 6-3 6-4 at Melbourne Park today.
Perry fought hard in the first set before the Frenchwoman gained the decisive break in the eighth game.
The second-seeded Mauresmo eased to a 5-1 lead in the second set.
The American then strung together three successive games before Mauresmo finally wrapped the match up in 74 minutes.
Her second-round opponent on Wednesday will be Russian Olga Poutchkova who beat Marta Domachowksa of Poland 6-2 6-4 today.
- AAP