MELBOURNE, Jan. 20 -- Despite billing itself as the summer Grand Slam, the Australian Open was brought to an abrupt halt by rain on day one of the tournament on Monday.

With Australia in the grips of a horror bushfire season and record-breaking drought, the change of weather was not unwelcome, but did force the cancelation of a number of fixtures.

Matches on outside courts were suspended as rain hit Melbourne Park at around 3 p.m. local time, while the drawcard contests, hosted on the indoor stadium courts, continued.

Among those progressing to round two were Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Caroline Wozniacki and local favorite Ashleigh Barty.

Earlier in the day, reigning women's champion Osaka beat the Czech Republic's Marie Bouzkova 6-2, 6-4, kicking off her campaign for a second consecutive Australian Open title.

Osaka said she hoped to remain focused and not let the hype of playing for back-to-back titles get the better of her.

"There's no reward for being a defending champion and you just have to go into it with the mindset that everyone wants to beat you and it's going to probably be tougher the second time around," the Japanese told reporters.

Osaka will be joined in the second round of the women's competition by Serena Williams and Wozniacki, who also won their first round clashes.

Williams made short work of Russia's Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-3, while Wozniacki - who is playing in her final tournament before retirement - beat American Kristie Ahn 6-1, 6-3.

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