World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka kicked off her Australian Open title defense with a statement, posting a 6-0, 6-1 win over German qualifier Ella Seidel on Sunday night. 

The reigning Australian Open hit her first ball at 11:40 p.m. after ATP No.1 Novak Djokovic was taken to four sets in his opening match. She dismissed any concerns of a slow start immediately. After opening with a crisp service game to hold, Sabalenka was off to the races.

Ranked No.172, Seidel, 18, was making her Grand Slam tournament debut. With former World No.9 Andrea Petkovic supporting her from the player's box, Seidel did her best to minimize her errors and force Sabalenka to play through the points. 

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But the power differential was evident, as Sabalenka played a measured match from the baseline to race through the opening set in 22 minutes. The pattern continued in the second set. 

Sabalenka, one of the stars of this year's "Break Point" on Netflix, ultimately won the match in 53 minutes.  

For only the third time in the Open Era, the women's defending champion at the Australian Open has won her opening set with a 6-0 scoreline, after Margaret Court in 1970 and Virginia Wade in 1973.

Sabalenka will face 16-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova in the second round. Fruhvirtova came from a set down to defeat Romanian Ana Bogdan 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to capture her first Grand Slam main draw win. 

"It will be a great experience no matter who wins," Fruhvirtova said, "but I'm really looking forward to the next round, and hopefully I will get some big court or bigger one than today."

The Czech teenager wasn't the only 16-year-old to notch a career milestone Sunday. Reigning Australian Open girls' champion Alina Korneeva also won her first Grand Slam main-draw match, coming from a set down to beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Both teens came through qualifying. 

"Of course, I'm so happy about the result what I did today," Korneeva said. "I think it's difficult when you are 16 and you win the first round of a Grand Slam. It's so difficult to feel this in my body, because I really can't understand that I'm here and I'm not playing juniors already."

With Fruhvirtova and Korneeva advancing, this is the first time since 2007 that two 16-year-olds made it to the second round at a Slam. That year, Caroline Wozniacki and Tamira Paszek made it through at Wimbledon. The last time it happened at Melbourne Park was in 2005, with Nicole Vaidisova, Michaella Krajicek and Tatiana Golovin advancing. 

The youngest woman in the Top 100, Mirra Andreeva, has a chance to make it another trio of 16-year-olds on Monday. She'll face American Bernarda Pera in the first round.

"I think everybody, it doesn't matter what age you are, you try to just to do everything on the court that you can, on the match, and that's all," Korneeva said. "Of course, if you do everything on the court and if you do everything on the practice, the result will be, and that's all. 

"It doesn't matter what age you are."