Images from Day 2 of the 2026 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday.
Gauff advances to Round 2
Coco Gauff started her quest for a maiden Australian Open title with a 6-2 6-3 win over Kamilla Rakhimova at Rod Laver Arena to reach the second round on Monday.
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Third seed Gauff wobbled on serve at times and was broken as she tried to close out the match at 5-2 in the second set against her Uzbek oppoenent.
However, Rakhimova gave up two match points on serve in the very next game and then surrendered the contest with a backhand over the baseline.
A former semi-finalist at Melbourne Park and a quarter-finalist last year, French Open champion Gauff is seeking a third Grand Slam title.
She will next meet left-hander Olga Danilovic, who knocked Venus Williams out on day one, for a place in the third round.
Swiatek fends off dogged Yuan
Iga Swiatek launched her bid for a first Australian Open title with an unconvincing 7-6(5), 6-3 win over Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue under the lights at Rod Laver Arena on Monday.
Six-times Grand Slam champion Swiatek was in all sorts of trouble, broken three times by the hard-hitting Yuan whose game was levels above her 130th ranking.
But the Pole's backhand proved decisive as she smacked a slew of winners in the clutch points to keep Yuan at bay.
"I was a bit rusty at the beginning, didn't really start well," Swiatek said on court.
"But I knew if I put in the hard work, I will play better so that's what I tried to do.
"I'm happy that it worked, many ups and downs. There are things to work on."
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It took some backhand magic for Swiatek to deny Yuan from taking the first set as she served at 5-4.
The Pole won the tiebreak off the same flank, planting her feet on the baseline to unleash a furious inside-out winner before racing to a 3-0 lead in the second set.
With the match slipping away, Yuan called a medical timeout, complaining of tightness in her thigh area, and lay down on the court to let trainers go to work.
When she got to her feet, she promptly broke Swiatek and rallied to 3-2, triggering calls of "Jiayou!" (Come on!) from Chinese fans in the terraces.
Yuan scrapped hard to the finish, saving a match point on serve at 5-3 but there was no denying Swiatek who closed it out with a sizzling backhand return down the line two points later.
Swiatek will meet Czech Marie Bouzkova for a place in the third round as she continues her quest for the career Grand Slam, having won crowns at the other three majors.
Medvedev turns up the heat to beat De Jong
Daniil Medvedev was looking forward to plunging into an ice bath on Monday after the former world number one overcame the Melbourne heat and serving issues to beat Jesper de Jong 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(2) in the first round of the Australian Open.
The 11th-seeded Russian, fresh off a title win in Brisbane, came out on top after a topsy-turvy opening set that featured five breaks of serve as both players struggled with their delivery on Margaret Court Arena.
"The conditions felt slow, so we were both breaking each other's serve a lot," said Medvedev, who has finished runner-up three times at Melbourne Park.
"It is warm, but I felt okay and I think then he was probably struggling a tiny bit more than me... Hopefully it doesn't get worse than what we felt here. For sure, a bit of an ice bath never feels bad after such a warm match."
Medvedev broke at 5-5 before serving out the opening set, clinching it with an emphatic backhand winner just before the hour-mark.
If the opening set was a roller-coaster, the second set was one-way traffic as Medvedev raced into a 4-0 lead through relentless pressure, mixing forehand and backhand winners as he capitalised on De Jong’s frequent errors.
Despite moments of resistance from De Jong, Medvedev turned up the aggression at key points which saw him surge ahead while the Russian toyed with his opponent at the net as he cruised into a 2-0 lead in the match.
"When I play good I am actually aggressive and when I play bad ... I become a bit more defensive," Medvedev said.
"He was also far behind the baseline. Many times I managed to move him around and even finish at the net. Some moments I could have maybe been a bit more clinical.
"First round is never easy, so hopefully I can be more clinical in the next rounds."
The third set looked to be heading for a routine conclusion after Medvedev broke early, but he paid a price for taking his foot off the gas when serving for the match at 5-4.
Two double faults allowed De Jong to level and eventually force a tiebreak, leaving the Russian fuming.
However, he made no mistake in the tiebreak, sealing victory with a sensational forehand winner from the corner of the court that even drew applause from his defeated opponent.
Medvedev plays Frenchman Quentin Halys in the second round.
Kenin loses in first round
Former champion Sofia Kenin was knocked out by fellow American Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-2.
Australian qualifier Storm Hunter beat Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6-4 to move into the second round.
Auger-Aliassime retires with injury
Portugal's Nuno Borges moved into the second round after Felix Auger-Aliassime retired from their match with what seemed like a thigh injury.
Borges was leading 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 when the seventh-seeded Canadian retired.
Key Points:
- French Open champion Coco Gauff is seeking a maiden Australian Open and third Grand Slam title.
- Coco Gauff's best finish at the Australian Open is semi-finals in 2024.
- Daniil Medvedev has finished runner-up three times at Melbourne Park.
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