Coco Gauff cruises to second round despite struggles with serve

"MELBOURNE, Australia -- 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."

"The 21-year-old Gauff has been reworking her serve for the last several months and practiced 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."

"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."

Coco Gauff won her Australian Open first-round match 6-2, 6-3 over Kamilla Rakhimova while continuing to struggle with her serve. Gauff recorded six double-faults in the first set but reduced them to one in the second. The player has accumulated 431 double-faults on the 2025 WTA Tour, the most by a wide margin. Gauff has been reworking her serve and practiced during a comfort break. Gauff will face left-hander Olga Danilovic in round two; Danilovic beat Venus Williams in the first round. Sofia Kenin lost to Peyton Stearns, who served 15 aces and advances to face Petra Marcinko.

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