Melbourne is already in thrall to Ash Barty, her title win in Adelaide last week giving hope of a first home winner of the Australian Open for 42 years.
But the world No1, whose image has been scattered across the city on giant billboards, almost buckled under the weight of expectation against Lesia Tsurenko at the Rod Laver Arena.
Fears of coming up short at the first Grand Slam of the year were allayed after the first-set blip, as Barty recovered for what proved an eventually comfortable 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 win.
She downplayed the early scare, saying: “It’s all good.
"It’s a tight turnaround from Adelaide but I sharpened up and did what I needed to do.”
The Melbourne crowd have not celebrated a singles winner since Chris O’Neil in 1978 but, in Barty, they look to have the potential successor and she insisted she was not feeling the pressure.
“My face is everywhere, isn’t it?” she said.
“But there’s no extra pressure. It’s amazing to have so much support and love from the Australian public.”
