Serena Williams through easily in Australian Open tuneup

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Serena Williams has restarted her now-lengthy quest for a 24th Grand Slam singles title with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Daria Gavrilova in an Australian Open tuneup tournament at Melbourne Park. Williams has been stalled on 23 major singles titles since the 2017 Australian Open. A 24th singles major would equal Margaret Court’s Grand Slam total. There are six tuneup tournaments this week for players preparing for the first major of the season. Second-ranked Simona Halep started the Gippsland Trophy with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Anastasia Potapova.