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Coco Gauff repeated her Wimbledon victory over Venus Williams on Monday, advancing to the second round of the Australian Open with a 7-6 (5) 6-3 win in Margaret Court Arena.
The 15-year-old’s success in the first round at the All England Club last summer catapulted her to global stardom, but with Gauff now a top-100 player and Williams having been a doubt for the tournament with a hip injury, this time the result came as less of a shock.
The contest pitted the youngest player in the women’s draw against the oldest, and Gauff broke 39-year-old Williams’ serve in the opening game before dropping serve herself at 5-4.
Similarly, Gauff started strong in the ensuing tiebreak before seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams mounted a comeback of sorts, but the younger American held her nerve to take the set with her first set point.
The second frame was less competitive, with Gauff taking a 3-0 lead on her way to clinching the set 6-3 after a total of one hour and forty minutes on court.
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Australian Open 2020 - in pictures Australian Open 2020 Heather Watson of Great Britain celebrates after winning match point during her Women's Singles first round match against Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic on day three
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Australian Open 2020 - in pictures Australian Open 2020 Dan Evans of Britain in action during his men's singles second round match against Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan on day three
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Australian Open 2020 - in pictures Australian Open 2020 Alexander Zverev celebrates his victory over Stan Wawrinka to reach the Australian Open semi-finals
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Australian Open 2020 - in pictures Australian Open 2020 Garbine Muguruza reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open
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Australian Open 2020 - in pictures Australian Open 2020 Sofia Kenin is the new champion after beating Muguruza in three sets
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Australian Open 2020 - in pictures Australian Open 2020 Serbia's Novak Djokovic makes a backhand return to Austria's Dominic Thiem during the men's singles final at the Australian Open
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Many of the scheduled first-round ties were cancelled due to heavy rain, with Britain’s Johanna Konta among the players forced to wait to get underway at the tournament.
Gauff will face Romanian Sorana Cirstea , who earlier beat Barbora Strycova 6-2 7-6 (5), for a place in the third round.
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