Australian Open 2026: Coco Gauff Starts Australian Open With Confident Victory

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Coco Gauff worked through early serving issues to open her Australian Open campaign with a straight-sets win over Kamilla Rakhimova.

The third seed, who is yet to progress beyond the semi-finals in Melbourne, claimed a 6-2, 6-3 victory in one hour and 38 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

The opening set proved more demanding than the scoreline suggested, with five of the seven games going to deuce, but Gauff managed to edge ahead and assert control at key moments.

She carried that momentum into the second set, overturning an early 1-0 deficit to surge to a 5-1 lead. Rakhimova briefly threatened a late comeback by winning two games in a row, but Gauff shut the door with her sixth break of serve to book her place in the next round. She will face left-hander Olga Danilovic next.

Reflecting on her serving struggles, Gauff said, "It was really just the first set. I only had one double fault in the second. I think both of us were struggling on the far side.

"The sun is right there, and that's usually how it is when I play on the first day here. Once I got through that first game, where I had three doubles, it was pretty much smooth sailing after that."

Data Debrief: Gauff hits grand slam milestone

Gauff was candid about her service issues, committing seven double faults against Rakhimova after leading the WTA Tour with 431 double faults in 2025.

Despite that, her class told. The French Open champion became just the fourth player aged 21 or younger since 2000 to record 75 or more women's singles wins at Grand Slams, joining Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

She also marked her 250th career match win at WTA level, becoming the youngest player to reach the milestone since Caroline Wozniacki in 2011.