Youth triumphs as Konta vanquishes Venus

Venus Williams' 69th Grand Slam came to a premature halt in the first round on Tuesday when she was shocked by rising British star Johanna Konta, who said the veteran's age was "irrelevant".

The oldest player in the women's draw, whose maiden Australian Open was in 1998, had high hopes going into the season's first major tournament after a rich vein of form late last year.

It propelled her back into the world top 10 but Williams, 35, was no match for Konta, who raced to a 6-4, 6-2 victory in 79 minutes on Rod Laver Arena for one of the biggest wins of her career.