Serena ‘in the zone’ with straight-sets win in Melbourne

MELBOURNE – An aggressive Serena Williams stepped up preparations for another tilt at a 24th Grand Slam title with a straight-sets victory over home hope Daria Gavrilova in the Yarra Valley Classic Monday.

The 39-year-old appeared physically strong and in control en route to a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 win in 94 minutes as she counts down to the Australian Open next week.

“I felt that I was composed and in the zone. Just trying to do the things that I’ve been working on,” she said in an on-court interview.

Williams started sluggishly, losing the first three points on serve, before quickly overpowering the Australian, who had opened the tournament impressively over Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia.

Gavrilova, ranked 451, was overmatched against her idol but used her…