One of the favorites for the title, sixth seed Venus Williams, lost as early as in the second round of the Australian Open, being beaten by world No.46 Carla Suarez Navarro.

The Spaniard saved a match point before beating Williams 2-6 6-3 7-5, who is yet to add an Australian Open trophy to her collection of Grand Slam titles. Suarez Navarro is playing only her fourth Grand Slam event, but she already has one notable results, the quarterfinals at last year’s French Open.

Venus started the third set strong, taking a 4-1 lead, but Suarez Navarro dragged herself back into it and saved herself on match point at 5-5. She then broke the next game and served out for a famous victory.

Second seed Serena Williams was extremely close to losing the second set, but the three-time Australian Open champion eventually defeated Argentine Gisela Dulko in straight sets 6-3 7-5.

Dulko wasted six set points and saved five break points before Serena won the game, then held her own serve to even the set at 5-5. Serena then broke again, after another long game featuring six deuces, before holding her serve to win the match with an ace.

Although Dulko was having a 5-2 lead in the second set, and although she had those six set points, Serena was calm, as if she had known she was going to win. Serena confirmed my impression by saying: "She had a couple of opportunities but I always felt I wasn't going to lose."

Except for Venus Williams and seed No.14 Patty Schnyder, all the seeds were victorious on day 4. (via BBC, photos: Getty Images)

Sixth seed Venus Williams joined her younger sister Serena in the second round of the Australian Open, beating Germany's world No.100 Angelique Kerber 6-3 6-3.

Williams raced to a 5-0 lead, but Kerber won the next three games and saved a set point. Still, Williams held her serve and won the first set. In the second set, Kerber had two opportunities on serve to take a 4-1 lead, but Williams won all the games to win the match.

Venus Williams is still seeking her first Australian Open title, despite being a five-time Wimbledon and two-time US Open champion.

More notable first-round results we haven't already mentioned:

Home favorite Samantha Stosur won two tiebreaks to defeat Klara Zakopalova, eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced with a 6-2 3-6 6-3 victory over Anastasia Rodionova, Amelie Mauresmo advanced in straight sets, beating Olga Govortsova, while Nicole Vaidisova, unfortunately not surprisingly, lost in the opening round to Severine Bremond,  6-2 6-1. No.22 seed Zheng Jie of China progressed. (source: Reuters, photo: Getty Images)

Venus Williams hasn’t lost one singles match at the JB Group Classic in Hong Kong, and her last victim was Russian world number seven Vera Zvonareva.

The 28-year-old American rounded off her only preparation for the Australian Open with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Zvonareva.

From what we’ve seen of the world number six this week, she’s on a great way to win her first Australian Open title.

Prior to beating Zvonareva, Williams had defeated Anna Chakvetadze 7-6 6-3, and world number one Jelena Jankovic 6-2 6-2.

Williams' win helped Team Americas claim victory over Team Russia in the JB Gold Group final. Other members of Team Americas were Gisela Dulko of Argentina and American Coco Vandeweghe.

Hard-hitting Venus Williams defeated Anna Chakvetadze 7-6(1) 6-3 at the JB Group Classic in Hong Kong, while Vera Zvonareva came from behind to beat Gisela Dulko 6-4 0-6 6-3 which means that Team Americas and Team Russia are tied at 1-1 in the JB Gold Group.

Chakvetadze played well in the first set, but the Russian couldn't maintain her form in the second.

Williams will play Zvonareva and Dulko faces Chakvetadze on Saturday, before a final doubles match.

Just for the record: Don’t forget that Williams crushed world No.1 Jelena Jankovic on Thursday. And by the way, Team Europe captain Jankovic, paired with Michelle Larcher de Brito, lost to Zheng Jie and Sania Mirza 6-1 6-1 in doubles on Friday. Also, Mirza upset Hungary's Agnes Szavay 6-3 6-4, so Team Asia-Pacific beat Team Europe 2-0. (source: ESPN, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

As you know, world No.1 Jelena Jankovic was demolished by Venus Williams on Thursday at the JB Group Classic in Hong Kong.

Knowing how tough Jankovic’s preparations were, it was natural for us to expect at least a close fight, while the outcome was just close to embarrassment for Jankovic. According to the Serb herself, she is still not warmed up, while the American claims she has always been good right when season starts.

"I've always been a good player off the jump. That's always been the way I've played throughout my career," said Williams.

On the other hand, here's what Jankovic said after her first singles match of the 2009 season: "It was very hard to get into the match. I felt very slow on the court and didn't really get my rhythm out there. But it's the first match of the season so I can't expect myself to play the best tennis, which is normal."

Was this gap what made the score 6-2 6-2? We will get the best answer in Melbourne! (via Fox Sports, image: TennisPhotos)