Coco Gauff Vs Kamilla Rakhimova, Australian Open: American Overcomes Serving Struggle to Secure First-Round Victory

Coco Gauff overcame some first-set serving struggles to kickstart her Australian Open campaign with a convincing victory over Kamilla Rakhimova. 

Gauff, who has never gone beyond the semi-finals at Melbourne Park, emerged a 6-2 6-3 victor in one hour and 38 minutes at Rod Laver Arena. 

The American was put through her paces in the opening set, with five of the seven games going to deuce, but it was the third seed who got the better of her opponent. 

Gauff assumed control in the second and turned a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 lead, but Rakhimova won two games on the spin to threaten a nervy finish to the set. 

However, two-time grand slam winner Gauff sealed her progression to the next round with her sixth break of serve, with left-hander Olga Danilovic her next match. 

"I mean, it was just the first set," Gauff said of her struggles on serve. "I only had one double in the second. I think both of us were struggling on the far side.

"The sun is right there, which I know because every time I play on the first day here, that's just how it is.

"But once I got through kind of the first game, I had like three doubles in the first game, and once I got through that game, I mean, it was pretty much smooth sailing from there."

Data Debrief: Gauff hits grand slam milestone 

Gauff was open about her service game during this match, with the French Open champion struggling with double faults, posting 431 in 2025, more than any other player on the WTA Tour, while she also registered seven against Rakhimova. 

However, her quality shone through, and she joined some illustrious names in the process. Indeed, since 2000, Gauff is now one of four players aged 21 or younger to win 75+ women's singles matches at grand slams after Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. 

She also claimed a 250th career match win at WTA level. At 21 years and 311 days, Gauff is the youngest player to achieve the feat since Caroline Wozniacki (20 years 316 days) in 2011.