Australian Open: Pegula, Gauff, Collins and Raducanu into second round

Americans Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Danielle Collins reached the second round of the Australian Open in opposite fashion on Monday.

Third-seeded Pegula defeated Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 6-0, 6-1, while seventh-seeded Gauff overcame a second-set swing to beat Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 6-4.

Collins, who was runner-up to Ash Barty last year and finished 13th, battled a left knee injury to defeat Anna Kalinskaja 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.

Pegula and Gauff could meet in the semifinals, while Collins could play No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek in the fourth round.

Pegula, a quarter-finalist in Melbourne the past two years, needed just 59 minutes to overtake 161st-ranked Cristian, who was making his third Grand Slam appearance.

Today is just one of those days where everything worked out, said the American, who will play either Czech qualifier Brenda Fruhvirtova or Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round.

It always feels good to win a match like this. I think when those days come, you take it and don’t complain and don’t criticize. You can just move on to the next one.

Gauff, who reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open last year, had the honor of opening the competition at Rod Laver Arena and dominated Siniakova in the first set.

The Czech player led 4-2 in the second set, but Gauff rallied to win in the seventh game.

“I didn’t expect to open the tournament with Rod Laver,” Gauff said. I am very proud that the tournament chose me and Katerina. I’m really happy with myself. Katerina was a fighter, I knew she would fight for every point. I just stayed mentally strong.

Gauff now faces former US Open champion Emma Raducanu after the Briton shrugged off a nagging left ankle problem to beat Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch 6-3, 6-2.

Collins needed a medical timeout due to a left knee problem in the first round of her match with Kalinskaya, but came through to win in just over three hours.

Another former US Open champion, Bianca Andreescu, advanced to the second round, but 28th seed Amanda Anisimova was defeated by Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-4.