That's me » Alvaro Gonzalez headed in the equalizer

MELBOURNE, Australia -- A rusty Novak Djokovic began his bid for a fourth consecutive Australian Open title on Monday with a win over Lukas Lacko while Serena Williams looked as polished as ever beating Australian teenager Ashleigh Barty. Wholesale Air Jordan 4 Ireland . With his new coach and six-time Grand Slam singles champion Boris Becker watching him during an official match for the first time, Djokovic appeared tentative early against the Slovakian player, who often appeared content to keep the ball in play. But as the second-seeded Djokovics patience level began to drop, his skill level stepped up. He stayed on course for a fifth Australian title with a 6-5, 7-6 (2), 6-1 win, hoping to be the first man to achieve that feat since the Open Era began in 1968. Top-ranked Williams won her 23rd consecutive match -- including 18 at the end of last season and four last week in winning the Brisbane International -- after beating Barty 6-2, 6-1 in 57 minutes. "You have to be ready," Williams said. "She had nothing to lose." Williams continues to be in rarified territory. Her Brisbane title was the 58th of her career -- she won 11 last year, including the French Open and U.S. Open. A five-time winner of the Australian Open, shes trying to end Victoria Azarenkas two-year run as womens champion at Melbourne Park. Williams won 10 of 11 points at the net during the Barty match, but tried to dowse expectations that shell vacate her usual place at the baseline. "In my mind Ive been at the net (previously), but now Im physically going there a little more," Williams said. "No pressure. My next match I might stay at the baseline the whole time. Its nothing Im permanently working on. Im just trying to have fun and do what I want to do out there." Djokovic also had a strong finish to 2013, entering the tournament on a 24-match winning streak, which followed his loss to Rafael Nadal in last years U.S. Open final. Hes now also on a 22-match winning streak at Melbourne Park. "It is the first competitive match Ive had this season, I havent played for five or six weeks," Djokovic said. "I was a bit rusty on the court the first two sets. Afterwards it was all working well." Serenas sister, Venus Williams, started well earlier Monday but unforced errors in two key periods in her match sent the seven-time major winner out of the tournament. The elder Williams missed a break-point chance in the sixth game and then, after getting to 40-30 on serve in the ninth, inexplicably fired three consecutive double-faults to surrender a break and just about the set to No. 22-seeded Ekaterina Makarova. She took a 3-0 lead in the third before her unforced error toll climbed to 56 and Makarova won six of the next seven games for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win. The 33-year-old Venus Williams, the second-oldest player in the tournament, has struggled with injuries and illness in recent seasons but reached the final of the WTA event at Auckland to start 2014 and came to Melbourne saying she was feeling better than she had in years. "The last 12 months I have had issues," she said. "But this year I definitely am looking forward to having a good run and feeling well." Three-highly-ranked players were beaten in the first round, including 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and two Italians, No. 7 Sara Errani and No. 12 Roberta Vinci. Sixth-seeded Kvitova lost 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 to No. 88-ranked Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand, who was playing in just her second Grand Slam tournament. Womens winners included two-time Australian Open finalist Li Na, Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens, No. 9 Angelique Kerber, 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur, No. 14 Ana Ivanovic, No. 26 Lucie Safarova, No. 28 Flavia Pennetta, No. 30 Eugenie Bouchard and No. 31 Daniela Hantuchova. Eighth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka, who won the recent Chennai Open, was the first man into the next round, advancing after just 15 games when Andrey Golubev retired with an injured left leg. Other winners were third-ranked David Ferrer, No. 7 Tomas Berdych, No. 9 Richard Gasquet, No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny, No. 17 Tommy Robredo, No. 19 Kevin Anderson, No. 23 Ernests Gulbis, No. 29 Jeremy Chardy, No. 32 Ivan Dodig and American Sam Querrey. On Tuesday, in the tougher top half the mens draw, top-seeded Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and Roger Federer are all in action. Cheap Jordans Ireland . Pistorius denied the allegation that he said to the close friend of the girlfriend he killed: "How can you sleep at night?" The accusation by Kim Myers provided a bizarre twist during the trial of the world-famous double-amputee Olympian, who is facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder for shooting dead Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, at his home last year. Air Jordan 4 Ireland Online . Berkman almost left the game last off-season before signing with the Texas Rangers. He then had another injury-plagued season and was limited to 73 games. http://www.airjordan4ireland.com/ .Lets go back to the Avs, who have become one of the funnest teams to watch in this years playoffs.MILAN - Juventus maintained its charge to a third successive Serie A title as it won 1-0 at 10-man Catania in a fiery match in Serie A on Sunday. Carlos Tevez scored the only goal of the game to take him level with Torino striker Ciro Immobile at the top of the scoring charts. Catania was forced to play with 10 men for much of the second half after Gonzalo Bergessio was dismissed following a second booking. Both coaches were also sent to the stands for protests during the first period. Juventus restored its 14-point lead over Roma, which has a game in hand. "I think the referee wanted to give a warning to the players, by sending off the managers and calming things down a bit," Conte said. "The match was very heated and we were good to keep a cool head. "I am very proud of the lads. We are playing at extraordinary levels, but we have to give credit to Roma, which is doing something incredible. So we have to stay awake because nothing is over and decided yet." Earlier, Fiorentina snatched a late 1-0 win at 10-man Napoli to boost its chances of sneaking into the Champions League. Inter Milan is four points further back after a last-minute goal consigned it to a 2-1 loss at home to Atalanta. Parma is level, but with a game in hand, after it drew 1-1 with Genoa in the lunchtime kickoff. "It was the perfect day, seeing as we opened up a gap on those behind us and got closer to third spot," Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella said. "It will be difficult to reach because Napoli is strong and has a big advantage. But well try right until the end." Lazio is five points off a European spot after being held to a 1-1 draw by AC Milan. Hellas Veronas European bid was dented again as it lost 5-0 at Sampdoria. Elsewhere, Udinese beat Sassuolo 1-0 and Bologna won a relegation fight against Cagliari by the same score. It was top against bottom in Serie A and 55 points separated Juventus and Catania going into the match. Tension was high from the start as the Juventus bus was pelted with objects on its way to the stadium. Juventus struggled but broke the deadlock shortly before the hour mark. Pablo Osvaldo nodded back a long ball from Andrea Pirlo for Tevez to race forward and fire home an angled drive for his 16th goal of the season. Air Jordan 4 Retro Ireland. Both Napoli and Fiorentina were in need of a confidence boost after crashing out of the Europa League midweek. Faouzi Ghoulam was controversially dismissed in the 37th minute after bringing down Marko Bakic on the edge of the area and Joaquin headed home the winner two minutes from time. Fiorentina moved seven points behind third-place Napoli. There was also a late goal in Milan, where Giacomo Bonaventura scored his second of the game 10 seconds from time when he was left completely unmarked at the far post to head a free kick between Samir Handanovics legs. Mauro Icardi had cancelled out Bonaventuras opener within 60 seconds in the first half. To celebrate he held up a T-shirt dedicated to his girlfriend Wanda Nera, the ex-wife of former Sampdoria teammate Maxi Lopez. Inter should have sealed the match in the second half but Fredy Guarin smashed a shot off the crossbar and Rodrigo Palacio sent a glancing header onto the left upright. Both sides could have snatched the win. Inters Jonathan cleared off the line three minutes from time before chipping the ball off the underside of the crossbar at the other end. Atalanta also hit the woodwork in the first half, when German Denis headed Bonaventuras cross off the crossbar. Parma maintained its charge toward a European spot as it extended its club record unbeaten run to 17 matches. Milan coach Clarence Seedorf was under pressure with seven defeats in his 12 matches in charge. His side took the lead two minutes from halftime when Abdoulay Konko deflected Kakas shot into his own net. However, Alvaro Gonzalez headed in the equalizer on the hour. Substitute Mario Balotelli was unlucky as his effort hit the right post eight minutes from time. At Udinese, captain Antonio Di Natale scored his 10th goal of the season to ensure he reached double figures in goals for the eighth consecutive season. It was a good way to mark his 324th league appearance for Udinese — a new club record. Di Natale could have had a second but kicked up a chunk of turf as he ballooned a penalty over the bar. Sassuolo also missed a penalty kick. ' ' '