Fourth-seeded CoCco Gauff easily advanced to the second round of the Australian Open on Sunday, but a number of lesser seeds were eliminated.
Gauff, who is ranked No. 4 in the world, needed just 61 minutes to put away Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-0. The American had the only three aces of the match, and led in winners 15-2 while Schmiedlova had 27 unforced errors to Gauff’s 13.
The two met in June in the fourth round of the French Open, and while Gauff won that match as well, it was much closer, 7-5, 6-2.
Gauff, who ran her winning streak to 6-0 to start the season, noted a turning point in the first set.
“I think I did well returning and then I found my serve towards the end. She’s a tough player to play but I’m happy with how I was able to manage my emotions today,” Gauff said on court afterward.
On the other end of the spectrum, seventh-seeded Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic was routed by Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 6-2.
Vondrousova, the reigning Wimbledon champion, double-faulted seven times and won only 29 percent of her first-return points. She also had just five winners to 26 for Yastremska.
It was the fourth time Yastremska defeated a top-10 player, and the first in a Grand Slam event.
“Last time I played with Marketa, I lost to her. It was a tough match. Today, in the morning, I was a little bit nervous. I think I had a good focus and I just tried to show my best,” Yastremska said.
Germany’s Laura Siegemund and No. 17 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia staged a three-hour battle before Siegemund won a third-set tiebreaker, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (11).
Siegemund trailed 4-2 in the third set but won three straight games. Then, in the tiebreaker, with both players struggling to hold serve, she capitalized on her second match point.
Other seeded players who lost included the 23rd seed, Anastasia Potapova of Russia, and No. 31 Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic.
Potapova fell to Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan 6-1, 6-4, while Bouzkova lost to her countrywoman Linda Noskova 6-1, 7-5.
The tournament’s 19th seed, Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, had little trouble with Australian wild card Taylah Preston 6-2, 6-2.
Other winners were Australian qualifier Storm Hunter, Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova, American wild-card McCartney Kessler, Varvara Gracheva of France, Nadia Podoroska of Argentina and Spain’s Rebeka Masarova.
Sunday ET late matches not included.
–Field Level Media
