By The Canadian Press

Gauff advances to second round at Australian Open despite serving struggles

Jan 18, 2026 | 7:39 PM

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Third-seeded Coco Gauff had some familiar struggles on serve but had still enough class and power to defeat Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2, 6-3 on Monday in a first-round match at the Australian Open.

Gauff has won two Grand Slam titles but has never gone past the semifinals at Melbourne Park. She was knocked out in the quarterfinals last year.

The American has struggled with double-faults and had 431 in 2025 on the WTA Tour, by far the most of any player. No one else had more than 300. Gauff had six in the first set in the victory over Rakhimova, and only one in the second set.

The 21-year-old Gauff has been reworking her serve for the last several months and practised some more during a comfort break in the match at Rod Laver Arena with Rakhimova.

Gauff faces left-handed Olga Danilovic in the second round. Danilovic defeated 45-year-old Venus Williams on Sunday in a first-round match, which erased the possibility of the two Americans facing off.

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“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.

Aryna Sabalenka is seeded No. 1 in Australia followed by Iga Świątek.

FORMER CHAMP OUT

Sofia Kenin’s poor recent run at the Australian Open continued as she lost 6-3, 6-2 to fellow-American Peyton Stearns.

Kenin, the No. 27 seed, was a shock winner here in 2020, but has since struggled at Melbourne Park losing in the first round for the fifth consecutive time.

Stearns fired 15 aces, for just the one double fault, as she cruised through to the second round in one hour and 14 minutes. She will play Petra Marcinko of Croatia next.

CANADIAN RETIRES WITH INJURY

In an early result on the men’s side, No. 7 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada retired in his match with Nuno Borges of Portugal. Borges led 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 after just over two hours when the 25-year-old walked to the net to shake hands.

The Canadian seemed to struggle with a leg injury through the match.

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More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

The Associated Press