1 of 6 | Coco Gauff hits a shot against fellow American Sofia Kenin during a first-round match at the 2025 Australian Open on Monday in Melbourne. Photo by Joel Carrett/EPA-EFE
Jan. 13 (UPI) — Coco Gauff and Jannik Sinner were among the top tennis stars to advance through first-round victories at the 2025 Australian Open on Monday in Melbourne. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Grigor Dimitrov and Victoria Azarenka were ousted early on at the first Grand Slam of the season.
Gauff — the top-ranked (No. 3) American women’s or men’s player — advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over No. 74 Sofia Kenin. She fired a dozen aces and 28 winners and converted 4 of 9 break point opportunities in the 80-minute match.
“I noticed she was guessing a lot on my serves,” Gauff told reporters. “Obviously, when a person starts guessing, you feel good.”
Gauff, a 2024 Australian Open semifinalist, will take on No. 173 Jodie Burrage of Great Britain in the second round. The winner will meet No. 29 Leylah Fernandez of Canada or No. 110 Cristina Bucsa of Spain in the third round.
No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, was the top women’s player to advance through a first-round triumph.
The Belarusian needed just 71 minutes to dispatch No. 81 Sloane Stephens of the United States 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday in Melbourne. Sabalenka extended her streak of 15-consecutive victories at the Australian Open, including her two title-winning runs.
No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 5 Zheng Qinwen of China, Americans Jessica Pegula (No. 6) and Danielle Collins (No. 11), No. 12 Paula Badosa of Spain and No. 13 Diana Shnaider of Russia were among the other top women to advance.
No. 76 Lucia Bronzetti of Italy ousted No. 23 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus — a two-time champion and former world No. 1 — 6-2, 7-6(2). No. 294 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland also defeated No. 22 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in straight sets.
No. 51 Naomi Osaka of Japan beat No. 67 Caroline Garcia of France 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Osaka could meet Gauff in the fourth round, with a trip to the quarterfinals on the line, if both players win their next two matches.
Osaka, a two-time Australian Open champion, lost in the first round last year in Melbourne. She failed to advance past the second round of all four Grand Slams in 2024 and is looking to reach the fourth round of a major for the first time since 2021.
“Overall, I am just really grateful to get the opportunity to play on Rod Laver [court] again,” Osaka said in her on-court interview. “I was a little shocked when I saw the schedule.
“It’s a really big honor for me.”
On the men’s side, No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy — the defending champion looking for his third-consecutive Grand Slam singles crown — beat No. 36 Nicolas Jarry of Chile 7-6(2), 7-6(5), 6-1 to advance to the second round.
Jarry fired 13 aces and 40 winners, but also totaled 50 unforced errors and was 0 for 2 on break point opportunities in the 2-hour, 40-minute match Sinner totaled seven aces and 24 winners. He logged just 12 unforced errors and converted 2 of 5 break point chances.
“It was a tough match, especially the first couple of sets that could have gone both ways,” Sinner said. “But I’m very happy with how I handled the tough situations.
“I’m happy to win the first match of the season and we’ll see what’s coming in the next round.”
No. 2 Alexander Zverev of Germany, No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, No. 6 Casper Ruud of Norway and No. 7 Novak Djokovic of Serbia were among other top men’s players to advance. Americans Tommy Paul (No. 11), Frances Tiafoe (No. 16), Sebastian Korda (No. 22) and Reilly Opelka (No. 170) also won their first-round matches.
Fellow American Alex Michelsen (No. 42) recorded the biggest upset — so far — at the tournament. He ousted No. 12 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria also left the tournament early. He was forced to retire due to injury during his first-round match with Francesco Passaro of Italy. Dimitrov railed 5-7, 1-2 at the time of his departure.
The exit marked the third-consecutive Grand Slam retirement (2024 U.S. Open and Wimbledon 2024) for the Bulgarian — a 2017 semifinalist.
No. 4 Taylor Fritz of the United States, No. 5 Daniil Medvedev of Russia and No. 13 Holger Rune of Denmark will be among the top men’s players in acton Tuesday in Melbourne.
No. 7 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 8 Emma Navarro of the United States and No. 10 Daria Kasatkina of Russia will be among the top women’s players on the courts at the Grand Slam.
First-round match coverage will continue at 7 p.m. Monday on ESPN+ and 11:35 p.m. Monday on ESPN2 on the East Coast in the United States, which is 16 hours behind Melbourne.
Coco Gauff of the United States raises her trophy after defeating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus to win the Women’s U.S. Open Tennis Championship at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Forest Hills, N.Y., on September 9, 2023. Graff won in three sets, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
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