She becomes only the fifth woman to hold all four grand slam titles at the same time.
The Russian beat Henrieta Nagyova 6-1 6-2. She will now meet Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Serena, a six-times champion in New York who is seeded 17th, will start her campaign against Polish world number 60 Magda Linette and could face Venus in the third round before a possible fourth-round showdown with Romanian top seed Halep.
Eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, who turns 40 this year, takes on Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in round one.
Star Indian tennis player Yuki Bhambri suffered a major setback in the Australian Open after a straight-set defeat at the hands of the sixth-seed Tomas Berdych in the opening round of the tournament on Monday.
According to the trophy, though, there was also an Australian champion in 1976.
American Serena Williams was third time lucky as she finally equalled Steffi Graf's long-standing record of 22 Grand Slam wins after defeating Germany's Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 in the Wimbledon final on Saturday.
Serena Williams was forced to dig deep to secure a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 US Open quarter-final victory over unseeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova on Wednesday, keeping alive her latest bid for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title.
Navratilova, who is openly gay, said it was vital for sports stars to speak out.
Ashleigh Barty lifted the season-ending WTA Finals trophy and led Australia to their first Fed Cup final since 1993, while Nadal won his 4th ITF Award for winning two Slams this season.
23-times Grand Slam winner Serena Williams said she is a Roger Federer 'superfan'.
Aussie Millman loves the support that he gets in Melbourne.
Serena Williams was the highest paid female athlete for a third consecutive year in 2018, according to an annual list published by Forbes on Tuesday that was dominated by tennis players.
Murray has struggled to regain form since undergoing hip surgery last January, and was quickly dismantled by the six-time Australian Open champion at Margaret Court Arena before the players called time on their match after less than an hour.
Simona Halep became the first Romanian in 40 years to lift the French Open trophy at Roland Garros on Saturday.
Summary of all sports events and persons that made news on Thursday.
Serena Williams has not won a set in any of the four Grand Slam finals she has reached since returning from maternity leave in September 2017.
Serena has remained one title behind Margaret Court's all-time record since bagging her 23rd Grand Slam singles trophy
Images from Day 6 of the 2023 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
Serena Williams plans to play fewer tournaments in the future to aid her quest to win more Grand Slam titles, according to her coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Shapovalov will meet Rafael Nadal for a place in the semi-finals.
Homeland favorite Ashleigh Barty and Serbia's Novak Djokovic are the top seeds for the upcoming Australian Open.
A look at the 10 landmark matches from the 20-times Grand Slam champion's career.
So while Halep went about dominating Serena, here are some famous people who got a ringside view of the action
Images from Day 2 of the 2024 Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday.
American Frances Tiafoe celebrated his 21st birthday by stunning Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-6(6), 6-7(1), 7-5 in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Sunday.
Ekaterina Makarova, who upset an injured Serena Williams in the fourth round of the 2012 Australian Open, completed a Melbourne Park sweep of the Williams sisters by eliminating Venus 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the second round on Monday.
List of French Open women's singles champions
Images from Day 7 of the 2023 Australian Open, at Melbourne Park, on Sunday.
The following is a timeline charting her rise to the top of the women's game:
Garbine Muguruza claimed a 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-5 win over Johanna Konta
Even as he was being sworn in inside the Supreme Court, scores of people protested across the street at the Capitol.
Following Iga Swiatek's victory over Coco Gauff in the final, here's a list of French Open women's singles champions:
Serena confirmed her entry to the tournament she won for a seventh time on her last appearance in 2017.
Images from Day 4 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday.
Images from all the action on Day 4 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday
Romania's Italian Open winner Simona Halep, Spain's Garbine Muguruza and US Open semi-final foe Victoria Azarenka of Belarus present a major challenge for Serena Williams at the upcoming French Open.
Serena Williams has been stuck on 23 slams since triumphing at the Australian Open in January 2017.
"(Novak) has said that he views this as a private matter for him. We would love to see Novak here, he knows that he'll have to be vaccinated to play here."
Here are eight women to watch during the US Open which starts on Monday.
