Williams’s bid to capture the last major title to elude her almost ended at the first hurdle before she fought back to beat unheralded Frenchwoman Emilie Loit 3-6 7-6 7-5.
Hewitt, knocked out in the opening round last year when he was suffering from a bout of chickenpox, almost tripped up again when he was pushed all the way by 155th-ranked Swedish qualifier Magnus Larsson before eventually winning 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-7 6-2.
“It’s a little bit of a wake up call for me but a win is a win,” the top-seeded Australian said. “I didn’t press the panic button as much as I would have done a couple of years ago.”
Williams was warned for swearing as her frustration boiled over in her torrid encounter with 56th-ranked Loit.
Playing her first match in Melbourne for two years after missing the 2002 tournament with an ankle injury, the world number one clinched the second set tiebreak to stay in the match and then clawed her back from a break down in the third to book her passage into the second round.
While Williams and Hewitt both made shaky starts to their campaigns, two of their biggest rivals showed they were in great touch with powerful displays.
Fourth seed Kim Clijsters was in irresistible form in crushing American Samantha Reeves 6-2 6-1 while last year’s men’s runner-up Marat Safin showed he was ready to go one better this time with a 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Dutchman Raemon Sluiter.
The big Russian showed no ill-effects from the shoulder problem that forced him to pull out of last week’s Sydney International although he said he was using anti-inflammatory drugs to ease his pain.
He fired 13 aces past Sluiter, including one timed at 209 kph, to win in two and a half hours.
After securing a second round meeting with Spaniard Albert Montanes, Safin said: “It’s okay, the pain is going away.
Clijsters beat Williams in last year’s season-ending WTA Championships and has now won 20 of her last 21 matches against all opposition.
The 19-year-old has also won four of the past five tournaments she has entered, including the Sydney International, and has been working out with boyfriend Hewitt to boost her hopes of beating the Williams sisters.
After the shock loss of twice champion Jennifer Capriati on Monday, there were no major casualties on the second day at Melbourne Park.
Men’s sixth seed Roger Federer ousted Flavio Saretta and seventh seed Jiri Novak beat Vince Spadea.
The women’s matches also went mostly according to script with sixth-seed Monica Seles crushing Slovakian teenager Lubomira Kurhajcova 6-0 6-1 in 45 minutes and eighth seed Russian Anastasia Myskina sweeping past Eva Fislova 7-5 6-3.
Tuesday’s first round results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Men’s singles: 9-Andy Roddick (US) bt Zeljko Krajan (Croatia) 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 7-6 (7-0), 6-3; Richard Krajicek (Netherlands) bt Todd Reid (Australia) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1; 1-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) bt Magnus Larsson (Sweden) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2; 23-James Blake (US) bt Jiri Vanek (Czech Republic) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 6-4; Anthony Dupuis (France) bt Jaocobo Diaz (Spain) 6-4, 6-3, 6-3; Robby Ginepri (US) bt Marc Rosset (Switzerland) 6-4, 6-2; Feliciano Lopez (Spain) bt 15-Alex Corretja (Spain) 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (11-9), 7-6 (8-6), 6-3; 20-Xavier Malisse (Belgium) bt Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2; Fernando Vicente (Spain) bt Luis Horna (Peru) 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1; 7-Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) bt Vincent Spadea (US) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); 25-Mikail Youzhny (Russia) bt Richard Gasquet (France) 3-6, 6-0, 6-1, 6-4; 30-Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil) bt Hicham Arazi (Morocco) 6-4, 7-6 (10-8), 6-3; 3-Marat Safin (Russia) bt Raemon Sluiter (Netherlands) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Olivier Rochus (Belgium) bt Arnaud Di Pasquale (France) 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4; Lars Burgsmuller (Germany) bt Juan Balcells (Spain) 6-4, 7-5, 7-5; Joseph Sirianni (Australia) bt Max Mirnyi (Belarus) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; 19-Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) bt Karol Beck (Slovakia) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0; Julian Knowle (Austria) bt Ryan Henry (Australia) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 7-5; 13-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) bt Julien Varlet (France) 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Adrian Voinea (Romania) bt Andre Sa (Brazil) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4; Todd Larkham (Australia) bt Cecil Mamiit (US) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; Jose Acasuso (Argentina) bt Gregory Carraz (France) 5-7, 4-3 — retired; Vadim Kutsenko (Uzbekistan) bt Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3; 6-Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Flavio Saretta (Brazil) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 6-3; Jaymon Crabb (Australia) bt Andrew Ilie (Australia) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4; Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) bt Kenneth Carlsen (Denmark) 6-0, 7-5, 6-1; 18-Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco) bt Justin Gimelstob (US) 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 — retired; Alberto Martin (Spain) bt Alex Bogomolov Jr (US) 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 4-6, 6-1; Andreas Vinciguerra (Sweden) bt 32-Stefan Koubek (Austria) 6-4, 6-4, 6-1; 10-David Nalbandian (Argentina) bt Jerome Golmard (France) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 — retired; 31-Rainer Schuettler (Germany) bt Albert Portas (Spain) 6-3, 6-2, 6-0; Albert Montanes (Spain) bt Mariano Puerta (Argentina) 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
Women’s singles: 6-Monica Seles (US) bt Lubomira Kurhajcova (Slovakia) 6-0, 6-1; 25-Meghann Shaughnessy (US) bt Nuria Llagostera Vives (Spain) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Klara Koukalova (Czech Republic) bt Maria Sharapova (Russia) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6); Ludmila Cervanova (Slovakia) bt Mariana Diaz-Olivia (Argentina) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2; Barbara Schwartz (Austria) bt 17-Elena Dementieva (Russia) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2; 19-Amanda Coetzer (South Africa) bt Barbara Schett (Austria) 6-4, 6-3; 28-Clarisa Fernandez (Argentina) bt Adriana Szili (Australia) 6-1, 7-5; Magui Serna (Spain) bt Asa Svensson (Sweden) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5; 8-Anastasia Myskina (Russia) bt Eva Fislova (Slovakia) 7-5, 6-3; 14-Anna Pistolesi (Israel) bt Meilen Tu (US) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Cristina Torrens Valero (Spain) bt 29-Iva Majoli (Croatia) 6-3, 6-4; Antonella Serra Zanetti (Italy) bt Martina Muller (Germany) 7-6 (7-5), 6-0; Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Switzerland) bt Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian (Switzerland) 6-1, 2-0 — retired; 1-Serena Williams (US) bt Emilie Loit (France) 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5; Alina Jidkova (Russia) bt Laura Granville (US) 2-6, 6-4, 6-0; 26-Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) bt Maureen Drake (Canada) 6-0, 6-2; Yoon Jeong-cho (South Korea) bt Eva Dyrberg (Denmark) 6-3, 6-3; Maja Matevzic (Slovenia) bt Casey Dellacqua (Australia) 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-2; 16-Nathalie Dechy (France) bt Sarah Taylor (US) 6-2, 6-3; 18-Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) bt Marissa Irvin (US) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3; 20-Elena Bovina (Russia) bt Vera Zvonareva (Russia) 6-2, 6-1; 4-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) bt Samantha Reeves (US) 6-2, 6-1; 10-Chanda Rubin (US) bt Melinda Czink (Hungary) 6-4, 7-5; Mary Pierce (France) bt Patricia Wartusch (Austria) 6-1, 6-4; Tatiana Poutchek (Belarus) bt Tina Pisnik (Slovenia) 6-3, 6-0; Jelena Jankovic (Yugoslavia) bt Rossana Neffa-De Los Rios (Paraguay) 6-3, 6-3; Rita Grande (Italy) bt Aniko Kapros (Hungary) 6-0, 6-1; Amy Frazier (US) bt Conchita Martinez Granados (Spain) 6-0, 6-1; Els Callens (Belgium) bt Martina Sucha (Slovakia) 6-0, 6-2; Petra Mandula (Hungary) bt Silvija Talaja (Croatia) 7-5, 6-1; 11-Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) bt Marion Bartoli (France) 6-4, 6-1; Daja Bedanova (Czech Republic) bt Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.—Reuters