MELBOURNE (AP) – With increased confidence in her serve thanks to some advice from Andy Roddick, Coco Gauff began her quest for back-to-back Grand Slam singles titles with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova at the Australian Open yesterday.
The 19-year-old American, who won her first major at the United States (US) Open in September, wrapped up victory in exactly one hour.
“I was a little nervous the first set,” fourth-seeded Gauff said. “I think I did well returning, then I found my serve toward the end (of the set). When I was nervous at 3-3, I told myself, ‘I feel good, I look good, so just have fun’. That was able to relax me a little bit’.”
Gauff dropped just one point on her serve in the second set and said former number one Roddick recently gave her serving tips.
Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova was beaten 6-1, 6-2 by Dayana Yastremska.
Seventh-seeded Vondrousova missed the Adelaide tune-up event with a hip injury and struggled on serve throughout, hitting seven double faults.
Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 and 2022 finalist at Melbourne Park, advanced to the second round when his opponent Terence Atmane retired early in the fourth set suffering from cramps. Medvedev had dropped the first set but was leading 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0 when the 22-year-old Atmane quit.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost last year’s Australian final to Novak Djokovic in three sets, advanced with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 win over Zizou Bergs. Stan Wawrinka, the 2014 Australian Open champion and three-time Grand Slam winner, was beaten 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 by Adrian Mannarino.
Ben Shelton, a quarter-finalist here 12 months ago, beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 7-6 (2), 7-5. Another American, 25th-seeded Seb Korda, defeated Vit Kopriva 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2. Five-time finalist Andy Murray lost to Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 while Gael Monfils defeated Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.
