While sixth-seeded Ons Jabeur and former top-ranked Caroline
Wozniacki were eliminated by two young Russian players, Gauff battled through a
tough first set before pulling away in the second.
Dolehide served for the opening set at 6-5 before U.S. Open
champion Gauff took control in the tiebreaker.
“It was really hard,” Gauff said. “If you give her something
short, she’s going to punish you for it, so if I could go back and do something
I’d change that.”
Gauff will next play another American, Alycia Parks, who
reached the third round of a Grans Slam singles tournament for the first time
with a 7-5, 6-4 win over 32nd-ranked Leylah Fernandez.
Jabeur, the runner-up at Wimbledon in each of the past two
years, made 24 unforced errors as she was beaten 6-0, 6-2 by 16-year-old Mirra
Andreeva in 54 minutes.
“I was really nervous before the match because I’m really
inspired by Ons and the way she plays,” said Andreeva, who lost in the final of
the junior event here last year. “Before I started on the WTA Tour, I always
watched her matches and was always so inspired. Now I had the chance to play
against her.”
It is the second successive year that Jabeur has lost in the
second round in Melbourne.
Wozniacki, the winner at Melbourne Park in 2018, was beaten
1-6, 6-4, 6-1 by 20-year-old Maria Tomafeeva, who is making her main draw Grand
Slam singles debut this year.
Wozniacki, who had two children before returning to the WTA
Tour last year after 3 1-2 years away, led by a set and 2-0 before Tomafeeva
turned the match around with some devastating hitting, including 40 winners.
“I’m really a bit speechless now,” Tomafeeva said. “It was
an honor to play here against Caroline today. I was going into the match
without any expectations. I enjoyed every second of it.”
Wozniacki said the match “slid out of my hands . . . it’s
definitely disappointing,”
Jabeur and Wozniacki played their matches under the roof, on
Rod Laver Arena and John Cain Arena, respectively, with rain causing the start
of matches on the outside courts to be delayed for three hours.
No. 10-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia beat last year’s junior
champion Alina Korneeva 6-1, 6-2 while Amanda Anisimova continued her comeback
from a seven-month mental health break with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Nadia
Podoroska.
In men’s matches, fourth-seeded Jannick Sinner beat Jesper
de Jong 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 on Margaret Court Arena, the third stadium at Melbourne
Park with a retractable roof.
Alex de Minaur, the 10th-seeded Australian, defeated Matteo
Arnaldi 6-3, 6-0, 6-3. De Minaur will next play Flavio Cobolli, an Italian
qualifier who beat Pavel Kotov 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. No. 12-seeded Taylor Fritz
also advanced.
Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka
headline the night matches later Wednesday.
Sabalenka, who won her first Grand Slam singles title here
12 months ago, faces Brenda Fruhvirtova, a 16-year-old Czech player. Novak
Djokovic, a 10-time winner of the event, plays local hope Alexei Popyrin. -AP
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