Coco gets her mojo working again

MELBOURNE, January 20

Coco Gauff shone on her Australian Open debut today as she knocked Venus Williams out in the first round in a repeat of her stunning victory over the seven-time Grand Slam champion in the Wimbledon opener last year.

The 15-year-old American sensation, 24 years Williams’ junior and the youngest player in the draw, eased to a 7-6(5) 6-3 win in the clash of generations at Margaret Court Arena, her first main draw appearance as a direct Grand Slam qualifier.

“I definitely was a lot more confident this time,” Gauff, who beat Williams 6-4 6-4 at Wimbledon as a qualifier, told reporters. “I think I was used to playing on big courts, so the crowd — I guess the size of the crowd didn’t startle me as much as last time.”

Gauff was born the year after Williams lost the 2003 Australian Open final to younger sister Serena. She grew up idolising the Williams sisters, who have shared 30 Grand Slam trophies between them. But Gauff is determined to plot her own path to greatness and all respect was put aside as she beat Venus convincingly.

“She played well, like I said,” Venus told reporters. “Just played very focused and 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 clearly wants it, works very hard, is extremely mature for her age. I think the sky’s the limit for her.”

Gauff, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and the third at the US Open, has already been tipped for Grand Slam trophies.

Gauff will now face Romanian Sorana Cirstea, who earlier beat Barbora Strycova 6-2 7-6(5), for a place in the third round.

“Anybody who doesn’t think she’s going to win a Grand Slam has to have their head examined,” 18-time Grand Slam title winner Chris Evert said pre-tournament.

Meanwhile, defending champion Naomi Osaka was done well before the downpour as she dismissed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 6-2 6-4 in 80 minutes, smashing one powerful serve that broke a net fastening.

“It was really tough for me trying to control my nerves,” said Osaka.

Djokovic had some work

Second seed Novak Djokovic was forced to work hard by unwavering German Jan-Lennard Struff in his first match today before prevailing 7-6(5) 6-2 2-6 6-1 to stay on course for a record-extending eighth title at the Melbourne Park.

The defending champion got off to a strong start for a 5-2 lead in the opening set but the German world No. 37 fought back to level things at 5-5 before going down in a closely-fought tiebreaker.

The second set proved relatively simpler for the winner of 16 Grand Slam singles titles as he converted two breakpoints while showing the same kind of form that helped him lead Serbia to the inaugural ATP Cup title before arriving in Melbourne. Struff continued to persevere, breaking his opponent thrice in the third set, but Djokovic held on. — Reuters

Day 1: Highlights

BARTY, TSITSIPAS RUN HOT

Top seed Ash Barty fought back from losing a tight first set to defeat Lesia Tsurenko 5-7 6-1 6-1. Stefanos Tsitsipas had a far easier outing, proving too good for Salvatore Caruso in a 6-0 6-2 6-3 triumph

FEDERER LOOKING GOOD

Roger Federer, who is looking to become the first 38-year-old man to capture a Grand Slam singles title in the Open era, swatted aside American Steve Johnson 6-3 6-2 6-2

SERENA TAKES IT BY STORM

Serena Williams began her latest quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title with a 6-0 6-3 victory over Anastasia Potapova. Williams fired nine aces and broke her opponent five times in a contest lasting 58 minutes

WOZNIACKI STROLLS

Caroline Wozniacki, playing in the final tournament of her career, eased past American Kristie Ahn 6-1 6-3 before rain brought a halt.

Shapovalov out of shape

Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics stunned 13th seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada 6-3 6-7(7) 6-1 7-6(3)

TEARFUL SINIAKOVA

Petra Kvitova said her crushing win over Katerina Siniakova was bittersweet after her Czech compatriot was reduced to tears. “I saw Katka was crying, so it wasn’t really nice for me. We know each other well,” Kvitova said. “it’s not easy to play (someone) you know well, but it’s a tennis match.”

Other key results

Men: Sam Querrey bt Borna Coric 6-3 6-4 6-4, Matteo Berrettini bt Andrew Harris 6-3 6-1 6-3, Dan Evans bt Mackenzie McDonald 3-6 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-3, Grigor Dimitrov bt Juan Ignacio Londero 4-6 6-2 6-0 6-4

Women: Petra Kvitova bt Katerina Siniakova 6-1 6-0, Paula Badosa bt Johanna Larsson 6-1 6-0, Zhang Shuai bt Sloane Stephens 2-6 7-5 6-2, Sofia Kenin bt MartinaTrevisan 6-2 6-4, Julia Gorges bt Viktoria Kuzmova 6-1 6-2

Prajnesh’s Round 1 match rescheduled

Melbourne: Prajnesh Gunneswaran’s first round match against Japanese Tatsuma Ito has been rescheduled for tomorrow because of rain. World No. 122 Prajnesh, who entered the main draw of the men’s singles event as a lucky loser, was scheduled to play world No. 144 Ito today. If Prajnesh wins, he would face world No. 2 Novak Djokovic in the second round.

Heavy rain caused chaos on Day 1, further disrupting the Grand Slam after a build-up hit by haze from raging bushfires. Air quality was rated as ‘good’ as the tournament started on schedule but play was suspended on outside courts about four hours later as a downpour deluged Melbourne Park at about 3pm. Agencies