On the opening day of the Australian Open, Coco Gauff reminded us that greatness is rarely seamless — it is built through adaptation. The 21-year-old American overcame early serving turbulence against Kamilla Rakhimova to win 6-2, 6-3, and in doing so quietly crossed a threshold shared only by Venus Williams, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova: 75 grand slam victories before the age of 22. The sun, the double faults, the grinding deuce games — none of it stopped her, which may be the most telling detail of all.
Gauff Powers Past Rakhimova Despite Serving Woes at Australian Open
Once I got through that game, it was pretty much smooth sailing
Mark
She had three double faults in the first game alone. How does a player recover from that kind of start?
Mimi
You have to compartmentalize. The sun was in her eyes, the court was unfamiliar in that particular way it is on day one. Once she got through that game, she'd proven to herself she could survive it. The rest was just tennis.
Mark
But 431 double faults in a year—that's not just a bad day. That's a pattern.
Mimi
It is. And it's the thing everyone will point to when she loses a big match. But here's what's interesting: she still won. She still broke serve six times. Her baseline game is so good that her serve doesn't have to be perfect.
Mark
Is that sustainable, though? Can you win a grand slam when your serve is that unreliable?
Mimi
She already has. Twice. So yes, apparently you can. But you're right to wonder. At some point, against the very best players, a weak serve catches up with you.
Mark
What does it mean that she's joined Williams, Williams, and Sharapova in this 75-match club?
Mimi
It means she's already in the conversation with the greatest players of the last 25 years. She's 21. Most players never get there. The fact that she's done it while still working on fundamental parts of her game is almost frightening.
Mark
What happens next?
Mimi
Danilovic is left-handed, which always presents a different rhythm. But if Gauff's serve settles down even slightly, she should advance comfortably. The real test comes later in the draw.
Il Polso
- Gauff's serve betrayed her immediately — three double faults in the very first game raised familiar alarm bells for a player who led the WTA Tour with 431 double faults in 2025.
- Five of the opening set's seven games stretched to deuce, turning what should have been a routine opener into a test of composure under a punishing Rod Laver Arena sun.
- She found her footing by clearing that brutal first game, and the second set was a different match entirely — a 5-1 surge built on crisp groundstrokes and relentless pressure on Rakhimova's serve.
- Gauff converted six breaks of serve across the match and finished in 98 minutes, her adjustment from chaos to control suggesting genuine adaptability rather than fortune.
- The victory placed her alongside Venus, Serena, and Sharapova as the only players since 2000 to reach 75 grand slam wins before turning 22 — a milestone that reframes her serving struggles as a footnote, not a flaw.
On the opening day of the Australian Open, Coco Gauff reminded us that greatness is rarely seamless — it is built through adaptation. The 21-year-old American overcame early serving turbulence against Kamilla Rakhimova to win 6-2, 6-3, and in doing so quietly crossed a threshold shared only by Venus Williams, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova: 75 grand slam victories before the age of 22. The sun, the double faults, the grinding deuce games — none of it stopped her, which may be the most telling detail of all.
Coco Gauff's first-round match at the Australian Open was not the clean statement a third seed might hope for. Playing Kamilla Rakhimova on Rod Laver Arena's opening day, she was immediately undone by the sun's position during her toss — three double faults in the first game alone — and the opening set became a grinding series of deuce battles rather than a display of dominance. Her serve, a chronic vulnerability that produced more double faults than any other WTA player in 2025, looked every bit as fragile as the statistics suggested.
But Gauff is not a player who requires perfection to win. She broke Rakhimova's serve repeatedly, her baseline game sharp and her movement assured, and survived the set 6-2 despite the early turbulence. The second set was a different story altogether. She raced to a 5-1 lead, her groundstrokes finding their targets with authority, and though Rakhimova clawed back two games to make the scoreline more respectable, Gauff closed it out with her sixth break of the match. Total time: one hour and 38 minutes.
Afterward, she was candid — the sun on that court is a recurring problem on opening day, she said, and once she survived that first game, the rhythm returned naturally. Only one double fault in the entire second set bore that out.
The deeper significance of the afternoon, however, was historical. At 21, Gauff has now won 75 or more grand slam singles matches, joining Venus Williams, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova as the only players since 2000 to reach that mark before turning 22. Already a two-time grand slam champion, she faces Olga Danilovic next — and carries with her a serve still being refined, and a record that suggests the refinement is very much worth waiting for.
Coco Gauff walked onto Rod Laver Arena on the opening day of the Australian Open and immediately found herself fighting the sun as much as her opponent. The third seed, playing Kamilla Rakhimova in the first round, struggled with her serve from the start—three double faults in the opening game alone—but her baseline game was sharp enough to carry her through to a 6-2, 6-3 victory in one hour and 38 minutes.
The opening set was a grinding affair. Five of the seven games went to deuce, each one a small battle of wills. Gauff's serve, which had been a chronic weakness throughout 2025, was unreliable in the early going. She would finish that year with 431 double faults, more than any other player on the WTA Tour—a statistic that haunted her even as she moved forward. But she found her rhythm after surviving that brutal first game, breaking Rakhimova's serve repeatedly and establishing control.
The second set belonged entirely to Gauff. She turned a 1-0 deficit into a commanding 5-1 lead, her groundstrokes finding their targets, her movement crisp. Rakhimova mounted a brief resistance, winning two consecutive games to make the scoreline respectable, but Gauff closed it out with her sixth break of serve of the match. The American would next face Olga Danilovic, a left-hander who would present a different kind of challenge.
After the match, Gauff was candid about her serving struggles. She acknowledged the sun's position on Rod Laver Arena—something she said happens every time she plays on the opening day—and how it had affected her rhythm. Once she cleared that opening game, she explained, the rest came naturally. She had only one double fault in the entire second set, a marked improvement that suggested the adjustment was real rather than lucky.
What mattered most, though, was the larger milestone her victory represented. At 21 years old, Gauff has now won 75 or more women's singles matches at grand slams, joining an extraordinarily exclusive group: Venus Williams, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova. Since 2000, only these four players have reached that threshold before turning 22. Gauff, a two-time grand slam champion already, is on a trajectory that suggests this will be the first of many such records she breaks. Her serve remains a work in progress, but her ability to win matches despite that vulnerability—to find other ways to dominate—is what separates her from the rest of the field.
Citazioni salienti
Once I got through that first game, I had like three doubles in the first game, and once I got through that game, it was pretty much smooth sailing from there.— Coco Gauff, on overcoming her early serving struggles
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