Venus Williams of the U.S. won in straight sets 6-0 6-3 against Bulgaria's Magdalena Maleeva at the Australian Open in Melbourne January 20, 2002. This is the first time since 1994 that Maleeva qualified for USD 8.6 M Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park. Before the defeat from Williams, Maleeva won from Lisa Raymond, United States, 7-5, 6-1. She defeated Kveta Hrdlickova from the Czech Republic with 6-4, 7-5 on Wednesday and qualified for the second round after defeating Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian from Switzerland with 6-3, 6-4.