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Venus Williams sounded a little relieved after easing past able Czech Lucie Safarova 6-2 6-2 in what looked, on paper at least, to be a difficult first round draw for the former Australian Open finalist.

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“I was playing a really talented player. Everyone knows how well Lucie can hit the ball,” she said.

“She definitely gets a lot of pace, and she's left handed. We've had some tough matches in the past. I just wanted to stay focused and execute my game. This was a great way to start.”

Williams has not had the sort of results at the Australian Open that a player of her confidence and stature might expect, at least not recently. As a consequence, and also because the likes of Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters have captured the media and public imagination so much of late, Williams has come into the event being talked about less than her rivals. That, she says, is just the way she likes it.

“I don't think about … I don't think about the headlines. My whole life has been a headline, and I've never in my career aimed to get headlines. I aim to win matches. That's pretty much my aim here: to win matches,” she said.

As is her wont, Williams chose to play an exhibition event rather than tour-level matches ahead of the first Grand Slam of the season, and though a similar lack of elite competitive matches might have hurt first round casualty Maria Sharapova, Williams says she is happy coming in a little cold.

“Obviously working hard in practice and executing in practice isn't as easy as doing it in a match. But I think definitely, I mean, my years of experience playing on tour definitely helps a lot with knowing how to come back and try to hopefully play well every time.”

Williams was asked what her ambitions still were, and it was clear from her answer that the list is still very long. “I want to win every match,” she said. “But I love playing. I want to win each tournament I play. I want to win the majors, play doubles, and be in the Olympics. I feel like I have so much left in my strings. To accomplish, would be more good times on the court.”

The Australian Open and the French Open are the two majors that Williams has yet to win, and she would dearly love to emulate her sister Serena’s success at Melbourne Park. She was beaten in the third round of last year’s tournament by Carla Suarez Navarro, and has not made it past the quarter-finals since she was runner-up to Serena at the 2003 tournament.

Venus will turn 30 in July of this year, but so far she says that she feels no ill effects from being one of the older players in the draw.

“No, and no wrinkles yet either, so thankfully that's working out,” she said.
 
“To be honest, when you're on the court, I mean, age doesn't matter. So I never think really about my opponent's age at all. So, so far though, I'm fast and strong, and maintaining that is great.”