Third seed Jessica Pegula was the first player to reach the second round of the 2023 Australian Open. The American defeated Jaqueline Cristian 6-0, 6-1 in just 59 minutes at the Margaret Court Arena on the first day of play.
Both players had 13 winners apiece but Cristian’s game came undone by the 32 unforced errors she hit. Pegula finished the match by winning 83% of her first-serve points and 53% of first-serve return points.
Pegula, whose best results at Melbourne Park have been reaching the quarter-finals twice consecutively in 2021 and 2022, will now play Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Sasnovich overcame Czech teenager Brenda Fruhvirtova, who qualified for the main draw, 7-5, 6-2 in their opener.
Australian Open: Coco Gauff joins compatriots Jessica Pegula
Pegula’s fellow American, seventh seed Coco Gauff also moved into the second round with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-4 win over Katerina Siniakova. Gauff needed seven match points to quell the Czech but managed to wrap up the proceedings in an hour and 15 minutes.
Maria Sakkari got past China’s Yue Yuan by the same score – 6-1, 6-4 – in an hour and 34 minutes in their first-round match. The Greek dominated the first set but wasn’t able to carry the momentum through to the second, at its start. Yuan secured a break on the sixth seed’s serve in the first game of the set. Five games later, as Sakkari regained her composure – and her game – again, she broke back Yuan to bring the set back on serve.
The eighth and 10th games – on Yuan’s serve – were the longest of the set as the world no. 119 did her best to keep herself in the match. The eighth game saw her hold serve and push the match along and while she did save two match points in the 10th game, Sakkari’s relentlessness put paid to her attempts and she conceded the match on the third match point she faced.
Lastly, 24th seed Victoria Azarenka ended the run of Sofia Kenin in their all-Australian Open champions’ match-up. The former world no. 1 came through 6-4, 7-6(3) in two hours and four minutes, after saving a set point in the second set.
