Li Na of China returns a ball at the Hopman Cup against Spain's Garrigues on Jan. 3, 2012.[Source:Sina.com]

China's Li Na made short work of Ekaterina Makarova in the Sydney International first round yesterday but she will have to increase the power and penetration of her serve if she is to be a contender at the Australian Open.

Li carried her strong Hopman Cup form into her opening match in Sydney and dispatched Russian Makarova 6-0, 6-3 in another mostly confident stride towards the year's first grand slam at Melbourne Park next week.

Li's groundstrokes, especially the main weapon of her forehand, were grooved but her serve was inaccurate and occasionally ineffective in the second set.

The world No. 5 conceded her delivery needs mass improvement between now and her arrival at Melbourne Park.

"I should improve a lot for my serve, otherwise it is not going to be easy to win my service games," she said.

"I have to work a lot more on my serve. In the second set, it did not work. Right now I'm still in Sydney, so I'm not thinking about Melbourne because I have to focus on this tournament first. "I'm happy with how I was moving on the court, to see how I hit the shot, but I need to keep working on my serve."