Serena Williams and Dinara Safina won their opening matches of the new season in very different styles at the Sydney International.
Williams, the world number one, thrashed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals. Former number one Safina lost the opening five games against Agnieszka Radwanska before winning 7-5 6-4 in the Russian's first match since October.
Third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova lost 7-5 6-2 to Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova. Williams spent just 72 minutes on court in her first competitive match of the year and said the fact that many of the leading names were already out meant little to her.
"I don't care who I play," said the American. "Whenever I play someone they play their best. "I play Vera Dushevina next and she's a good player and she's been ranked high before. So whoever I play, believe me, they're going to play like number one on that particular day against me for whatever reason, so it doesn't matter for me."
Safina had not played since pulling out of the season-ending Tour Championships in October with a back injury that brought to an end an emotional 2009, during which she reached number one in the world but failed to back it up with a first Grand Slam title.
