Kerber battles through, Williams exits

German Angelique Kerber battled through the Australian Open first round as Venus Williams made an early exit on Monday. Ninth seed Angelique Kerber beat Australia's Jarmila Gajdosova 6-3 0-6 6-2 in an odd match on Rod Laver Arena. Gajdosova rolled her ankle on the first point of the second set, then recovered and fought back to win it to love. But Kerber steadied to see off Gajdosova and win into the second round. Williams was beaten 2-6 6-4 6-4 by Russian 22nd seed Ekaterina Makarova in a match which started with the American sizzling, and finished with her self-destructing. For Williams, tormented by injuries and illness over the past 12 months, this was always going to be as much about fighting what was inside than the person on the other side of the net. But after a promising first set and a half from Williams, three successive double faults to hand Makarova a critical second set break, and 56 unforced errors for the match, proved the 33-year-old's undoing. Going into the match unseeded and ranked outside the world's top 30, Williams looked every inch the top 10 player she was in a dominant first set dusted off in just over half an hour. Williams belted 18 winners - unpassable at the net, unblemished with her volleying. Momentum shifted in the second set as Makarova - twice a quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park - saved two break points at 3-2 down. Then Makarova broke Williams in her next game, before the American broke back in a marathon 14-minute eighth game of the set. But again, Williams wobbled. Amid 25 unforced errors in the set, Williams then rolled out three successive double faults in her next service game to hand Makarova another break and the Russian eventually closed out the set 6-4. A third set was always going to test Williams both physically and mentally as the match crept into a third hour. An early break gave Williams a 3-0 advantage, before Makarova again broke back then broke in another marathon game to go 4-3 up. The Russian then closed out the match in two hours, 29 minutes, to set up a second-round clash with American Irina Falconi. Falconi beat Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3 6-1 in their first-round match. Earlier, Briton Laura Robson became the first player eliminated from the main draw, hammered 6-3 6-0 by Belgian 18th seed Kirsten Flipkens. Australian Casey Dellacqua was also a day one winner, beating former world number two Vera Zvonareva 6-2 6-2 as the Russian starts a comeback from injury.