DailyExpertNews
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Two of tennis’s most exciting young players, Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu, will face each other in the second round of the Australian Open after both winning their opening matches on Monday.
The 18-year-old Gauff easily defeated the Czech Katerina Siniaková and won in straight sets 6-1 6-4.
Elsewhere, Raducanu eased some of her injury worries with her own victory over Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch, winning 6-3 6-2.
The 2021 US Open champion twisted her ankle in Auckland nearly two weeks ago as she left the court in tears.
After a rough few years, Raducanu is seeded No. 77 but showed a confident performance in Melbourne to kick off the tantalizing showdown with Gauff.
After her own win, Gauff acknowledged the pressure Raducanu has faced since winning her first grand slam as an 18-year-old.
“Obviously she’s been through a lot of pressure, she burst onto the scene, I feel like I’ve probably been through more than ever to win a slam,” Gauff told reporters.
“And I especially feel like being from the UK, being the first British person to do something in a long time is probably a lot more busy than what I’m used to being an American.
“You know, Serena (Williams) is retired now, but she was always the American that people looked to.”
Gauff himself has been under enormous pressure and became a household name as a 15-year-old with impressive performances at Wimbledon and the US Open.
But the No. 7 seed showed no signs of nerves in her victory over Siniaková, winning her first set on the Rod Laver Arena court in just 22 minutes.
It looked like Siniaková would take the match to the third set as she broke Gauff to take a 4-2 lead, but the American recovered before finally sealing the impressive victory.
Gauff finished with 24 winners against 18 unforced errors and won over 70% of her service points on the day.
“Really pleased with myself,” Gauff said. “Katerina is a fighter that I knew she would fight to the last point and she proved it today. I’m glad I stayed with it mentally.”
It took 20-year-old Raducanu an hour and 25 minutes to beat Korpatsch, who is one position higher than the British number 1 in the world rankings.
Raducanu had 27 winners compared to Korpatsch’s 10 in the game as her groundstrokes carried her to victory.
“I think my forehand is a real weapon of mine,” Raducanu told reporters after her win.
“It will take some fine-tuning, but going forward I really see myself loving that side and I really do. I think I’m swinging more freely in general right now, and yes, it probably shows in my forehand.”