US women's tennis player Serena Williams made a great start to the 2020 season by defeating Camilla Georgi of Italy in straight sets at the Auckland WTA Classic Tennis Tournament. 38-year-old American player Serena defeated world number 99 Camilla by 6-3, 6-2, keeping an eye on this month's Australian Open. Serena was initially scheduled to play against two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuchnetsova of Russia, but the opposing player withdrew from the tournament due to illness.

Earlier, Australian Open organizers said that the Grand Slam tennis tournament is unlikely to be delayed due to the fire smoke in the forests. The organizers said that they have taken all necessary steps in view of the health and safety of the players. The city has been exposed to smoke due to the fire that has been in the forest for the past few days in the city prior to the first Grand Slam of 2020, starting on 20 January in Melbourne. 25 people have died due to a fire in Australia's forests.

 Japanese star tennis player Naomi Osaka won in the first round of the Brisbane International tournament after a hard fight against Maria Sakari of Greece. In a two-hour match, Sakari won the second set in a tie-breaker, while also breaking Osaka's serve in the first game of the third set. However, the former world number one player managed to win the match 6–2, 6–7, 6–3.