Feisty world No.101 tests Venus

Venus Williams isn't in Australia for "kicks and giggles" after battling through a tough opening-round match at the Australian Open.

The 13th seed, who withdrew from a tournament in Auckland two weeks ago with an arm injury, looked rusty early before putting away world No.101 Kateryna Kozlova 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 in a little under two hours on Monday.

"Just from the warm up, it looked like she was ready to go," Williams said.

"I haven't really played in a while so it was kind of hard to go out there and (get) perfect rhythm.

"After the first set, I felt more rhythm - hopefully going through the tournament I feel (that) more and more."

The seven-time grand slam champion needed all her years of experience in the first set, after dropping the first game and struggling early on serve.

The American broke back midway through the set only to drop serve again to go down 5-6.

But with the set on her racquet, the 23-year-old Ukrainian was unable to hold back a ferocious Williams determined to wrest back control.

"I have to give her a lot of credit for playing a match that was not a lot of errors and just restless," Williams said.

Williams, 36, has battled injury and illness in the recent years but retirement is certainly not front of mind.

"Just like every player here, I've put in a ton of work," she said.

"I'm not coming all the way to Australia for kicks and giggles - I'm here as a competitor."

Williams' 17th Australian Open continues on Wednesday with a clash against Swiss qualifier Stefanie Voegele.