China’s Wang Qiang secured her first win over a top-20 player since beating Serena Williams at Melbourne Park in 2020 after upsetting 18th-seeded Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-2 at the Australian Open on Monday.
It was Wang’s first win on tour since last year’s French Open, where she beat Su-Wei Hsieh in the first round before losing to Gauff in the second.
Gauff saved four match points from 5-0 down on Monday, but that was the only good news in a match in which the American made 38 unforced errors.
“It’s just learning when do I play my best tennis, and today wasn’t the best tennis,” the 17-year-old Gauff. It was the first time she had been beaten in the opening round of a major since the 2020 US Open.
Elsewhere, Madison Keys came out on top in an all-US battle against the 2020 Australian Open champion, Sofia Kenin. Keys has been in excellent form in the lead up to this year’s tournament and claimed the Adelaide Open last week, her first title since 2019. Keys is currently ranked No 87 in the world after suffering injuries and a loss of form. Kenin, who was the No 11 seed, is undergoing struggles of her own and has not won a title since March 2020. Elsewhere in the women’s draw Alison Riske, who Keys defeated in the final at Adelaide, beat Donna Vekic in straight sets.
It was a generally successful day for the American men in Melbourne. Reilly Opelka won a battle of giants with Kevin Anderson as the 6ft 11in No 23 seed beat the 6ft 8in South African 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. Tommy Paul and Mackenzie McDonald also won their openers but Sam Querrey fell to Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
