Play begins at the Australian Open with the season's first Grand Slam

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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Play has begun on the show courts at the Australian Open — the first Grand Slam of the season — with No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini facing Aliaksandra Sasnovich at the Rod Laver Arena.

On the men's side at Melbourne Park later Sunday, No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev faces Gabriel Diallo.

The No. 1 seeds for men and women headline Sunday's night session at the Rod Laver Arena. Aryna Sabalenka faces Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, and Carlos Alcaraz goes against Adam Walton.

Sabalenka is after her third Australia Open title and was the runner-up to Madison Keys a year ago. She has reached the last three finals and won two.

Alcaraz is trying to become the youngest man to win a career Grand Slam. The 22-year-old Spaniard has won twice in the other three Grand Slams but has not been past the quarterfinals at the Australia Open.

No. 2 seed Jannik Sinner, the two-time defending Australian Open champion, has combined with Alcaraz to win the last eight Grand Slam trophies.

The highlight of the day might feature a player ranked No. 576 by the WTA.

That would be, of course, 45-year-old Venus Williams. She will be the oldest player to compete in singles at the Australian Open. Williams received a wild card to enter the tournament and has won seven Grand Slam titles — the last in 2008 at Wimbledon.

Williams faces Olga Danilović of Serbia in the evening session.

Williams was married in December to Italian Andrea Preti. She was 17 when she first played the Australian Open in 1998, reaching the quarterfinals in just her fourth Grand Slam event.

She's never won the Australian Open. She made the finals in 2003 and 2017 and lost both times to her sister, Serena. She won five Wimbledon titles and two at the U.S. Open.

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