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Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork. Len Dawson Chiefs Jersey .com) - Two-time defending champion Victoria Azarenka and former titlist Maria Sharapova were first-round victors in Tuesdays action at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam event of the year. On a sweltering Day 2 at Melbourne Park, the former world No. 1 Azarenka, seeded second, defeated Swede Johanna Larsson 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, while the third-seeded former top-ranked star Sharapova handled American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 6-4. Azarenka, who lost to the great Serena Williams in a final in Sydney two weeks ago, was tested at Rod Laver Arena. "Yeah it was a tough set first. The match was going to be tricky ... the weather was not helping," Azarenka said. "I had to play a little bit and find my rhythm." Azarenka hasnt lost at this event since 2011, as she defeated two-time runner-up Li Na in last years final and Maria Sharapova in the 2012 championship match. Her second-round opponent on Thursday will be Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, while up next for the career Grand Slam winner Sharapova will be Italian Karin Knapp. Sharapova reached the semifinals the last two years in Melbourne, titled here in 2008, and is a two-time Aussie runner-up. Meanwhile, fifth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska had her hands full with Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, but eventually posted a 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 victory, and eighth-seeded former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia whipped Japans Misaki Doi 6-1, 6-2. The former Wimbledon runner-up Radwanskas second-round opponent will be Belarusian Olga Govortsova. Tenth-seeded former top-ranked star Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark drilled Spains Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-0, 6-2, while 11th-seeded rising Romanian Simona Halep also had little trouble in a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Polands Katarzyna Piter, and 13th-seeded American Sloane Stephens erased Kazakhstans Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6 (7-1), 6-3. Stephens shocked Williams in a quarterfinal bout here a year ago. Playing her first Grand Slam match since her New Years Eve engagement to golfer Rory McIlroy, Wozniacki did everything she could to keep cool on Tuesday. "Every time in the changeovers, ice bags, ice towels, everything; and then in the second set I could feel they were starting to heat up even more," Wozniacki said. "I put the bottle down on the court and it started melting a little bit underneath, the plastic, so you knew it was warm." Sixteenth seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain moved on with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over American Vania King, while Ukrainian Elina Svitolina swept past 19th-seeded two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-3, 6-3, and 20th-seeded Slovak Dominika Cibulkova subdued former French Open champ Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-4. In other action involving seeds, New Zealands Marina Erakovic doused No. 21 Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 7-6 (8-6); Spains Garbine Muguruza, fresh off her first career WTA title in Hobart last week, took out No. 24 Estonian Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 2-6, 6-2; No. 25 Frenchwoman Alize Cornet was leading Slovenian Polona Hercog 1-0 in the opening set when Hercog retired; No. 29 Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bested Brazilian Teliana Pereira 7-6 (9-7), 6-4; No. 32 Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova got past former top-10 German Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-3; and No. 33 Serb Bojana Jovanovski overcame Slovak Jana Cepelova 6-7 (1-7), 6-1, 6-3. Several other women reached the second round, including Americans Christina McHale and Varvara Lepchenko, Italian Camila Giorgi, and Japans Ayumi Morita and Kurumi Nara. The second round will commence Wednesday, as the current world No. 1 Williams will take on Serb Vesna Dolonc. Williams is a 17-time major singles champ, including an Open Era-record five Aussie Open crowns, with her last one coming in 2010. In other action involving top-10 seeds, a No. 4 Li will encounter Swiss Belinda Bencic and No. 9 German Angelique Kerber will battle Russian Alla Kudryavtseva. Also on Day 3, 14th-seeded former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic will face German Annika Beck and 15th-seeded Wimbledon runner-up Sabine Lisicki of Germany will tangle with Romanian Monica Niculescu. Anthony Sherman Youth Jersey . The Major League Soccer teams were scheduled to play on Saturday night, but their game was rescheduled after Stu Tudor was hit during a pregame storm. The 54-year-old lieutenant in the Columbus Fire Department is in critical condition in the intensive care unit of the Ohio State Medical Center. Mecole Hardman Womens Jersey .5 million, four-year contract with the Texas Rangers that could be worth $32. http://www.thechiefsshoponline.com/Youth-Harrison-Butker-Chiefs-Jersey/ . The 27-year-old hit .209 in 86 at-bats last year after missing the 2010 season following surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.Third base is a relatively shallow position, giving the best hot corner options even more relative value. Leaving aside now-first-baseman Miguel Cabrera, the best of the bunch has been Texas Adrian Beltre who, over the past five seasons, sits just behind Tampa Bays Evan Longoria in runs, home runs and RBI, but has a batting average nearly 30 points higher, enough to get the nod, particularly since Beltre has stayed relatively healthy throughout his career. Thats not to say that Longoria isnt great; hes hit 30-plus homers three times and he played 160 games last season, but missed 117 in the previous two years, so that hangs over any decision to take him. The injury bug has caught the Mets David Wright in two of the past three seasons, causing him to miss 50 or more games in 2011 and 2013, but hes also a career .301 hitter who has power and has added at least 15 stolen bases per season in eight of the past nine years. Washingtons Ryan Zimmerman has belted at least 25 homers in four of the past five seasons, and that consistency makes him better than most at the position. While those have the longer track record, there are some that are newer to the hot corner that also have put up big numbers. Oaklands Josh Donaldson had a breakout season in 2013 and Seattles Kyle Seager has back-to-back 20 home run seasons. St. Louis Matt Carpenter, who might have more value at his previous position of second base, but he led the NNational League with 126 runs scored last year, while hitting . Khalen Saunders Youth Jersey. 18, and that works at any position. Beyond that, there are more challenges involved. San Diegos Chase Headley followed up a breakthrough 2012 season with a dramatic drop-off in 2013, so take your chances. Pittsburghs Pedro Alvarez led the National League with 36 home runs last season, but also whiffed a league-high 186 times on his way to a .233 batting average, so you pay a price to get that power; probably enough to avoid Alvarez unless hes filling a corner infield spot. In his mid-30s and coming an injury-shortened season, Milwaukees Aramis Ramirez can still mash when healthy -- more than 25 home runs in eight of the past 10 seasons. A couple of rising stars may still be a year or two away from being huge fantasy contributors, but its worth keeping Baltimores Manny Machado, coming back from knee injury, and Colorados Nolan Arenado have potential thats worth investing in at some point. Others with upside include Torontos Brett Lawrie, who is still untapped potential, and San Franciscos Pablo Sandoval has dropped some weight, so might be a bit of a sleeper. Really, beyond the top handful of choices at third base, a lot of the appeal is in the eye of the beholder Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '