Melbourne, Jan 19 (IANS) Coco Gauff, the No. 3 seed, opened her Australian Open 2026 campaign with a straight-sets 6-2, 6-3 win over Kamilla Rakhimova at Rod Laver Arena on Monday.
The victory marked the American youngsters’s 75th career Grand Slam match win and improved her first-round Slam record to 23–4. Despite serving struggles that included seven double faults, Gauff controlled the match, overcoming early pressure and closing it out in 1 hour and 39 minutes.
“I try not to put so much pressure on myself with the first round. I just want to win the tournament, so whether I lose first round or in the finals, I don’t think I would be as satisfied so until then, I’m only okay. Winning is the only satisfying result, but that doesn’t mean I’m not proud of myself throughout the tournament. I’ll only be satisfied if I win,” Gauff said after the game.
Rakhimova showed resilience against Gauff, saving three set points to hold serve at 2–5 in the opening set, but the latter stayed composed and sealed it with an unreturnable serve.
In the second set, Rakhimova chased down lobs and drop shots and earned crowd support, yet Gauff’s consistency proved decisive as she surged to a 5–1 lead. Although a double fault and brief lapse gave the Uzbek a short opening, the American immediately broke back, securing her sixth break of the match and closing out a confident straight-sets victory to launch her Australian Open title bid.
“I would’ve rather held serve in that one game, but I think it’s the beauty of being a good returner; you know that you have a good high chance of breaking in almost every game. I thought I did well; I didn’t rush the points. She plays really low, so I just tried my best to get the ball up,” the 2024 semifinalist said.
Gauff’s victory set up her second-round match against left-handed Olga Danilovic. Their first encounter comes after Danilovic’s three-set win over seven-time major winner Venus Williams on Sunday.
“I did practice with (left-handed) Alex Eala earlier, so hopefully that practice will help me…playing with a lefty, there’s not many on tour. Olga’s a great player, she’s beat some top players especially at this tournament, so it’s going to be a tough match but I’m looking forward to it,” she said.
“As the match went on, I just told myself to accelerate on my serve more. When that happens, I get more speed and velocity, so I think in the next match I’ll try and start quicker than I did today,” Gauff added.
–IANS
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