MELBOURNE, Australia — Serena Williams had a slight head cold, the sun was broiling and the wind swirling.

No problem. Not against a player ranked No. 123.

Williams, seeking her 10th Grand Slam title, got her Australian Open campaign under way Tuesday with a 6-3, 6-2 win over China's Yuan Meng, who was all but ducking for cover from an onslaught of powerful serves, groundstrokes and volleys from the second-seeded American.

And get this: Williams wasn't even going all out.

"It was a little hot for me today," said Williams, aiming to keep intact her record of winning here in odd-numbered years since 2003. "But I was able to just take my time and play a lot slower, not giving 1,000 percent.

"I think it was pretty important for me not to ... go crazy out there, try and conserve some energy. Keep in mind, I am playing doubles here, as well. I definitely want to do well in both events."

That would be doubles with sister Venus — the reining Wimbledon champion — who overcame a lapse against hard-hitting Angelique Kerber of Germany to advance with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal was facing Belgium's Christophe Rochus in the late match.

While the Williams sisters were happy to get through without drama, Britain's Andy Murray wished he had spent more time in the sun. The 21-year-old Scot got a mixed blessing when Andrei Pavel, who was hoping to make a farewell tour of the majors before retiring, had to quit after 45 minutes when his bad back acted up.

"I would have liked to have been on court a bit longer," said the fourth-seeded Murray, who won for the first time in Rod Laver Arena. "You don't want to win a match like that."

This year, Murray is carrying the hopes of a British public looking for its first male Grand Slam champion since 1936.

Murray was installed as the favorite or joint favorite for the tournament by British bookmakers after beating Federer three times since losing to the Swiss star in the U.S. Open final — his best run at a major to date.

"I'm aiming to go one better here and I need all the support I can get," he said, noting the number of Scottish flags unfurled around the stadium. "It's nice. Hopefully they'll keep coming throughout the tournament."

Most everybody else was eager to finish fast with the temperature topping 104 degrees in afternoon. Murray said he could feel his feet burning on long points. Photographers at courtside draped their heads, bodies and cameras in wet towels. Spectators fanned themselves with paper and official programs.

"Ooh! It's a little hot out here," Serena Williams said. "It was definitely extreme conditions."

The swirling, gusty wind didn't help either.

Yuan, who had only won two matches in eight Grand Slam appearances, never gave up, but was simply overpowered by Williams, who was bashing anything within reach as hard as she could, punctuating her swings with grunts of effort.

A cool front came through and conditions were a pleasant 79 degrees by the time sixth-seeded Venus went on court. It turned into essentially a good hitting session for her.

"I was really happy to be able to be out there and hit a lot of balls and find a rhythm and advance," she said.

Williams rushed to a 5-0 lead in the first set before Kerber's go-for-broke style started working. She broke Williams, then fended off three set points, before Williams finished off the set with her fifth ace.

Kerber broke again to pull ahead 3-1. It was the last game she won as Williams started catching the lines again.

Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva beat Germany's Kristina Barrois 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-1. Also advancing were No. 13 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo of France and No. 22 Zheng Jie of China.

No. 9 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland became the highest seeded player to be ousted, falling to Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko.

On the men's side, No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Argentina's Juan Monaco, No. 6 Gilles Simon downed Spain's Pablo Andujar and fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet, seeded 24th, ousted Diego Junqueira.

Tsonga had upset wins over Murray in the first round and Nadal in the semifinals here last year before losing the final to Novak Djokovic.

No. 13 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, runner-up here to Federer in 2007, ended local hope Lleyton Hewitt's 13th Australian Open. Hewitt, a former U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion, lost the final at his home major in 2005 to Marat Safin.