Fourth seed Petra Kvitova has started her Australian Open campaign with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Richel Hogenkamp.

Hogenkamp, playing in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career, struggled to find her rhythm early on and she was quickly on the back foot after losing her serve twice at the start of the match.

Kvitova happily accepted the gift from her Dutch rival to comfortably serve out for the opening set in just 22 minutes.

The two-time Wimbledon winner, whose best performance in Melbourne was a semi-final appearance three years ago, secured another break early in the second set, but she wasted the advantage by immediately losing her own serve.

However, Hogenkamp was unable to handle the power of Kvitova as a break in the ninth game signalled the beginning of the end.

Kvitova will now meet either Donna Vekic or Mona Barthel in the second round as she continues her bid for a third Grand Slam title.