(Melbourne) American Coco Gauff, 3e world, passed the first round of the Australian Open without difficulty on Monday, dismissing Uzbek Kamilla Rakhimova (93e) 6-2, 6-3.
“I tried not to put pressure on myself. I’m here to win the tournament. I will only be happy if I win the title,” commented the 21-year-old.
Gauff, who reached the semi-finals last year in Melbourne, his best result, will face in 2e Serbian left-hander Olga Danilovic (69)e).
“I trained against a left-hander, Alexandra Eala, because there aren’t many left-handers on the circuit. It’s going to be a tough game, but I’m looking forward to it,” Gauff said.
Winner of the US Open 2023 and Roland-Garros 2025, she served for the match at 5-2 but was unable to finish. She did so in the next game by taking Rakhimova’s serve for the sixth time.
“I would have preferred to end a game earlier on my serve, but we have many chances to break here,” Gauff emphasized.
