Victoria Azarenka comes through against Sloane Stephens

Victoria Azarenka has started her Australian Open campaign with an impressive win over Sloane Stephens.

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Recent injury troubles have resulted in the two-time Australian Open champion dropping outside of the world's top 32, but she controlled her match with the talented American.

The 25-year-old won almost half of the points on Stephens's serve and that provided the Belarusian with three breaks to ease through the opening set.

It was a similar story in the second as Azarenka created numerous opportunities to earn an advantage over the 21-year-old, and two more breaks of serve were enough for her to wrap up a 6-3 6-2 triumph.

Azarenka will now play eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki in the second round in the women's draw.