Melbourne, Jan 20 (IANS) Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, seeded No. 5, defeated Slovenian Kaja Juvan 6-4, 6-3, to advance to the second round of the Australian Open in the second match of the day at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
Rybakina matched the performance of other Top 10 players who have played so far at this year’s Australian Open, moving on to the second round. She is set to play against France’s Varvara Gracheva next.
Kaja Juva, ranked No. 100 in the world, fought valiantly, but Rybakina was too strong, winning 6-4, 6-3 in 1 hour and 12 minutes at Margaret Court Arena.
The 2023 finalist has now secured seven consecutive victories in the first round in Melbourne, marking the start of her career. Interestingly, she also defeated Juvan in the second round during her run to the final that year, creating a sense of deja vu, WTA reports.
Rybakina accumulated 64 points and hit 22 winners during the match. She served five aces, whereas Juvan had two. Her first serve win percentage was 83 per cent, dropping to 62 per cent on the second serve. She successfully converted both break points. Although Rybakina made more unforced errors (24) than Juvan (20), Juvan committed two double faults.
The Kazakh started to falter late in the first set when Juvan’s serve failed under pressure, and Rybakina capitalised at the last moment to win the set 6-4. Until then, both players maintained their service games without breaking.
In the second set, Rybakina improved her returning slightly and secured an early break. Although her serve for the match was somewhat tentative, she finished with a down-the-line ace, highlighting a largely dominant performance. Juvan had only one break point, which was essentially the last point of the game, and she failed to convert it, enabling Rybakina to smoothly advance to the next round.
Her serve, in particular, appeared more polished than ever, making a strong statement to the rest of the field. She, along with Anisimova, Gauff, Swiatek, and Sabalenka, all demonstrated varying degrees of dominance in their early wins. However, with Rybakina, who did secure the last major title of 2025 at the WTA Finals- a detail we shouldn’t overlook- she is arguably the most in form outside of the expected favourites for the title.
–IANS
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