Four months after winning last year's US Open in her comeback slam, Lleyton Hewitt's Belgian ex obliged the crowd with a 6-0 6-4 trouncing of Canadian Valerie Tetrault.
The woman formerly known as Aussie Kim said she didn't ever expect to be back in Australia playing tennis and while it was good to be back among friends, it was down to business.
'It doesn't feel like a comeback anymore,' she said.
Sharapova's comeback from injury, however, was as grey as the outdoors.
The glamour girl could only give her new dress and 18 karat gold and quartz ear rings one outing, much to the dismay of her generous fashion sponsors, as she was beaten by fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 7-6 3-6 6-4.
She put the loss in perspective, though.
'It's a bad day, you have to get on with your life, there are many worse situations in life,' Sharapova said.
'There are people that don't even know what a tennis match is in the world.'
Perhaps feeling at home in the weather, Scotland's fifth seed Andy Murray started ominously with a 6-1 6-1 6-2 thrashing of South African Kevin Anderson, while No.7 Andy Roddick also opened up with an easy three set win.
Murray, Roddick, Clijsters and Sharapova were among the privileged few to play indoors while those on the outside courts had to battle regular rain delays.
In one outside match to get through uninterrupted, 16-year-old Queenslander Jason Kubler receive an 89-minute grand slam lesson in his first outing on the big stage, thrashed by Croatian No.24 seed Ivo Ljubicic 6-1 6-2 6-2.
In even quicker time, crowd trouble marred the Open again.
Eleven Croatian fans were ejected at 11.30am for being disruptive during countryman Ivo Karlovic's match against Czech Radek Stepanek, with one of them caught carrying two flares.
Another group of eight supporters was banned from entering the venue after a flare was set off outside Melbourne Park even before the first match started.
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