Coco Gauff beats Venus Williams again in stunning Australian Open debut
Six months after putting Venus Williams out of Wimbledon in the first round, the American teenager Coco Gauff did it again to her 39-year-old compatriot on day one of the Australian Open, and is on course for a showdown with the defending champion, Naomi Osaka, in the third round on Friday.
Gauff, 15, was well worth her win and has to next get past the Romanian, Sorana Cirstea, who outlasted Barbora Strycova in two tight sets. The Czech, on the edge of the seedings, has reached the fourth round here on her past three visits.
In the evening, the world No 1 Ashleigh Barty overcame a sluggish start, winning 12 of the last 14 games against Lesia Tsurenka, her 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 win taking her through to the second round in the quarter where seventh seed Petra Kvitova blitzed Katerina Sinokova in 50 minutes for the loss of a single game.
Osaka earlier was in sparkling touch in the hour and 20 minutes it took her to account for Marie Bouzkova. Her second-round opponent is Saisai Zheng, who made quick work of the Russian qualifier, Anna Kalinskaya.
Rain wrecked the card from midafternoon on the outside courts and organisers have to squeeze nearly 40 extra matches from both draws into day two – with more rain forecast in the morning - including Johanna Konta’s opener against Ons Jabeur. What tennis there was, enthralled packed courts – at least those under the three roofs.
“I definitely was more confident this time,” Gauff said after her impressive 7-6 (5), 6-3 win. “I think I’m now used to playing on big courts. The size of the crowd didn’t startle me as much as last time. I feel like my mindset has changed since US Open. I did have three good matches, at both the US Open and Wimbledon.”
Williams was clipped later and said of her double loss to Gauff, “She played really well, consistently, in both matches. She was really focused, put a lot of balls in the court. That’s what you have to do. She’ll play well the rest of the event.”
She was a little more effusive about Caroline Wozniacki, a close friend, who won her opening match of her farewell slam, against the American Kristie Ahn, at the place where she won the title two years ago. “We played a lot of great matches,” Williams said. “Wishing her obviously a lot of luck in this event. It looks like she’s hitting the ball well.”
Wozniacki, whose probable opponent in round two is Dayana Yastremska, looked relaxed about what might be an emotional tournament. “It’s always tricky, especially knowing it’s my last tournament, the 29-year-old Dane said. “There’s a lot of emotions, but I tried to keep them in check, and I thought I did that very well today.”
Osaka, who is never short of something to say, said, “For me it’s really odd here. I just feel really happy. I don’t know, I don’t really have this mentality of defending [the title]. It’s really weird.” As for her next opponent, she added, “I played Saisai once a couple years ago, and she’s a very tricky player. She slices and drop-shots from what I have seen of her matches in the past. It will probably be a match where I have to dictate a lot and just stay consistent and be positive. There are going to be times where I do think I’ll be frustrated.”
Serena Williams began her pursuit of Margaret Court’s 24 majors in style, taking a little over an hour minutes to beat Anastasia Potapova, bagling her in the first set, but having to claw back a break in the second.
She refused to be drawn on the saga growing around her friend, Meghan Markle, but did open up on breaking a long drought by winning a title in Auckand last week. “It was a monkey off my back,” she admitted. ‘“It was very important for me to get that win, a relief. I can move forward now.”
Williams won the last of her 23 slams here in 2017 when eight weeks pregnant, and now looks as trim and as fit as she has done in many years. She will be a real handful for anyone in the draw, including her next opponent, the Slovakian, Tamara Zidansek, who had a comfortable win over Korean wildcard Na-Lae Han.
“I played really strong in the first set [against Potapova], and I’m building on that,” Williams said. “I feel like I can get better throughout this tournament. This is a good stepping stone.”
Court, who watched Osaka’s match, claimed in an interview with a Perth radio station that Tennis Australia were organising an on-court presentation for her on Monday to mark the 50th anniversary of her four slam victories in 1970. The tournament would not confirm the claim, and nothing occurred on Monday. Court’s views on same-sex marriage have been a running sore in Australia and the sport for a long time.