Sawt Falasteen - Gauff overcomes wobble in winning start to Melbourne title bid

The 21-year-old eased past Russia-born Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan 6-2, 6-3 on a hot and sunny Rod Laver Arena.

The American plays Venus Williams's conqueror Olga Danilovic of Serbia in round two.

"I tried not to put too much pressure on myself," Gauff said of her mindset heading into the first round.

"I want to win this tournament. I am only satisfied if I win, but I am proud of myself regardless of how I get on."

The two-time major winner admitted that her return of serve had been a potent weapon against the world number 93.

"It's the great thing of being a good returner, you have a good chance of breaking in every game," she said.

Gauff, whose best performance in Melbourne is a semi-final in 2024, showed glimpses of frustration as she coughed up six double faults in the first set and made 19 unforced errors.

That included three double faults in her first service game, although she dug herself out of the hole to hold.

On the eve of the tournament Gauff said that she has "good days and really bad days" with her serve.

Gauff belatedly found her groove, sending down an ace to seal the first set in style.

She appeared to have found some badly needed consistency in the second set and cut down on the number of mistakes.

But Gauff erred again when serving for the match at 5-2, allowing Rakhimova to claw back a break.

Gauff reset and immediately broke back to complete victory in one hour and 39 minutes.

F.Qawasmeh--SF-PST