Coco Gauff had a bit of problem adjusting to the solar at one finish of Rod Laver Enviornment and dropped an early service sport however shortly settled right into a rhythm to start out her Australian Open with a 6-3, 6-3 win Monday over 2020 champion Sofia Kenin.
Coco Gauff of the U.S. shakes palms with Sofia Kenin of the U.S. after profitable her first spherical match(REUTERS)
Third-seeded Gauff received the title on the WTA Finals final November and began this season by serving to the U.S. to victory on the United Cup final week, a run that offers her an opportunity to maneuver atop the rankings.
The 2023 U.S. Open champion is sporting a Marvel-inspired bodysuit and skirt at Melbourne Park and he or she’s radiating confidence and calm.
“I knew going in it was going to be difficult, but you know I’m happy with how I played,” she mentioned of the 1-hour, 20-minute win over Kenin, who at No. 81 is a a lot more durable opponent than her rating suggests.
“I mean (I) could serve better, but like on that side I was struggling to see the ball,” Guaff mentioned, pointing to 1 baseline on the primary present court docket that was bathed in solar. “So I’m just happy that I was able to manage through that.”
One other 20-year-old American, Alex Michelsen, produced the most important win of his younger profession with a 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 first-round upset of 2023 Australian runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Michelsen’s three booming service returns within the ninth sport of the fourth set helped him earn a significant break towards the Eleventh-seeded Tsitsipas and, after shaking off jitters on his personal serve, he closed out for his first ever victory over a participant ranked within the prime 20.
Gauff went into her opening spherical on a streak of profitable 33 matches towards gamers ranked exterior the High 50, courting to a loss to Kenin at Wimbledon 2023.
It was robust going early, with Gauff changing an early break earlier than Kenin obtained again on serve at 2-2, hitting deep floor strokes and getting good bounce off the laborious court docket.
However Gauff, who had 5 aces and 4 double-faults in her first two service video games, lifted her tempo, began taking the ball earlier and received 4 of the subsequent 5 video games. She completed the match with 12 aces and 9 double-faults, and saved seven of the eight breakpoints she confronted. She additionally had 28 winners, together with two rifling backhands on key factors within the second set, and 13 unforced errors.
The draw introduced one other robust journey to Australia for Kenin. It was the third straight 12 months Kenin confronted a Grand Slam champion within the first spherical in Australia, and her fourth consecutive first-round exit right here.
Guaff will subsequent play Jodie Burrage of Britain. Additionally advancing from early matches have been No. 12 Diana Shnaider, No. 23 Magdalena Frech and No. 25 Liudmila Samsonova.
After a stop-start Day 1 on Sunday, together with greater than six hours of rain, Monday’s packed program additionally consists of matches for 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, defending champion Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and girls’s No. 2 Iga Swiatek.