MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Third seed Coco Gauff had some familiar struggles on her serve, but she still had enough power and strength to defeat Kamila Rakhimova 6-2, 6-3 on Monday in a first-round match at the Australian Open.
Gauff won two Grand Slam titles, but was unable to advance beyond the semi-finals at Melbourne Park. She was eliminated in the quarter-finals last year.
The American has been plagued by double faults and has 431 faults in 2025 on the WTA Tour, the most of any player. No one else had more than 300. Gauff had six in the first set in the win over Rakhimova, and just one in the second.
The 21-year-old has been working on improving her serve over the past few months, and trained more during a break in her match at Rod Laver Arena with Rakhimova.
Goff will face southpaw Olga Danilović in the second round. Danilovic defeated Venus Williams (45 years old) on Sunday in a first-round match, eliminating the possibility of the two Americans facing each other.
“There aren’t a lot of (left-handed players) on the tour, but Olga is a great player, she’s beaten some of the best players, so it’s going to be a tough match,” Gauff said.
Aryna Sabalenka is Australia’s top seed, followed by Iga Swiatek.