Serena Williams made a successful return to Melbourne with a no-nonsense 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Frenchwoman Camille Pin in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday.

The American seventh seed won here in 2003 but was unable to defend her title last year because of a knee injury.

Dressed in a white skirt and fluorescent green shoes and top, the former world number one eased past Pin in 57 minutes on centre court.

An occasionally rusty Williams broke Pin in the second and fourth games of the first set but then dropped her own serve in the fifth.

The pair swapped service breaks again at the start of the second set before Williams powered away to set up a second round meeting with Madagascan Dally Randriantefy or Czech qualifier Zuzana Ondraskova.