Third seed Coco Gauff began her Australian Open campaign with a straight-sets win, despite some early serving issues.
The 21-year-old American beat Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2, 6-3 on a hot day at Rod Laver Arena. She will now face Serbia’s Olga Danilovic in the second round, who defeated Venus Williams in the first round.
Gauff admitted she had felt some pressure but tried not to overthink the match. She also praised her return of serve, which helped her break Rakhimova several times.
The match was not without mistakes. Gauff made six double faults in the first set and 19 unforced errors overall. She even started with three double faults in her opening service game, but recovered to hold serve.
After finding her rhythm, she sealed the first set with an ace and played more consistently in the second. Rakhimova briefly fought back when Gauff was serving for the match at 5-2, but Gauff broke back immediately to win in one hour and 39 minutes.
