Kvitova eases into second round

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova powered into the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday, winning 12 straight games to sweep aside Russia's Vera Dushevina in straight sets.

The Czech second seed surprisingly lost the first two games in the Rod Laver Arena but stepped up her game to win 6-2, 6-0 in just 71 minutes.

Once the tall left-hander, who dropped her first service game, found her range there was nothing Dushevina could do to stop the onslaught.

Kvitova, 21, who reached the quarter-finals in Melbourne last year, broke the Russian three times in each set and faced only two break points on her own serve, underlining her dominance.

She said she felt comfortable playing on the centre court after her efforts in 2011.

"When I came back on the court everything (from last year) was back in my head, and it was nice," she said.