(January 19, 2026) No. 3 Coco Gauff overcame some struggles on her serve in the beginning and end of the match to push past Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2, 6-3 on Monday in a first-round match at the Australian Open.
Gauff, since mid-season last year, has been trying to retool her serve with new coaches. She led the WTA in double faults last year.
The 21-year-old American will play Olga Danilovic in the second round. Danilovic defeated Venus Williams in the first round of the tournament.
“There’s not many (left-handed players) on Tour, but Olga’s a great player, she’s beat some top players so it’s going to be a tough match,” Gauff said.
Other women’s seeds advancing: No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, who was a finalist at the last two majors, won 6-3, 6-2 over Simona Waltert, No. 6 Jessica Pegula beat Anastasia Zakharova 6-2, 6-1, and No. 14 Clara Tauson had a 6-3, 6-3 win over Dalma Galfi.
There were a couple of upsets on the women’s side of the draw, including No. 15 Emma Navarro and No. 27 Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion.
On the men’s side, No. 7 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime retired from his match with Nuno Borges of Portugal. Borges led 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 when the Canadian retired.
“I’m OK, but I just started cramping at the start of the third set,” the Canadian said to media. “Yeah, it became very difficult to be competitive at this level. I tried for a set, but yeah, wasn’t possible today.
“I can’t recall ever in my life (cramping) this early in a tournament, this early in a match.”
In other men’s first-round matches, three-time Australian Open finalist, No. 11 Daniil Medvedev beat Jesper de Jong 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (2). Other winners included No. 6 Alex de Minaur, No. 13 Andrey Rublev, No. 19 Tommy Paul, and Reilly Opelka.
More to follow….
