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'Wow': Tennis world in shock over 'sad' Coco Gauff scenes

andrew reid
·5-min read
Coco Gauff went down in a huge upset on day one of the Australian Open. Pic: Getty
Coco Gauff went down in a huge upset on day one of the Australian Open. Pic: Getty

American teen sensation Coco Gauff has been sent packing at Melbourne Park after suffering a shock straight sets defeat on day one of the Australian Open.

The 18th seed had no answers to an inspired Wang Qiang as the 110th-ranked Chinese player sealed a 6-4 6-2 boilover on Margaret Court Arena.

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Wang took just 73 minutes to beat the 17-year-old American, whose litany of unforced errors proved her downfall.

Gauff registered 17 unforced errors compared to Wang's eight in the opening set, which the Chinese underdog claimed in 38 minutes.

Momentum was firmly with Wang heading into the second set and she stormed into a 4-0 lead after just 17 minutes.

The American's timing looked completely off and more errors from Gauff presented Wang with a chance to serve for the match at 5-0.

Gauff did manage to break back and then saved three match points on her own racquet to pull the deficit back to 5-2.

However, another errant return on match point down handed Wang the win and left tennis fans stunned by Gauff's shock defeat.

Earlier on day one, defending champion Naomi Osaka has eased into the second round with a straight sets win over spirited Colombian Camila Osorio.

The Japanese superstar delivered a mixed bag en route to a 6-3 6-3 win over the world No.50.

Naomi Osaka cruises into second round

With her ranking slipping to No.14 after a tumultuous 2021, Osaka showed no signs of the abdominal injury that saw her withdraw from the semi-finals of a lead-up tournament 10 days ago.

"I thought I played really well given the circumstances," Osaka said in an on court interview.

"I didn't really have that much information on my opponent and I thought she played amazing.

"She was fighting for every point and I think that's a really good quality so I'm sure we'll see her on this court pretty frequently."

Seen here, Japan's Naomi Osaka celebrates her match point against Colombia's Camila Osorio at the Australian Open
Japan's Naomi Osaka celebrates her match point against Colombia's Camila Osorio in the Australian Open first round. Pic: Getty

Fifth seed Maria Sakkari and Olympic champion Belinda Bencic were the the first women's big guns through to the second round at Melbourne Park.

Sakkari was made to sweat against world No.287 Tatjana Maria before prevailing 6-4 7-6 (7-2) over the German on Monday.

Maria only gained entry to the season-opening grand slam on a special ranking after taking maternity leave last year following the birth of her second child.

But Sakkari, a semi-finalist at both the French Open and US Open last year, was mightily relieved to get past her.

Playing only her second event since contracting COVID-19 last month, Bencic showed no lingering effects in powering to a 6-4 6-3 victory over Kristina Mladenovic.

The one-time world No.3, seeded 22nd this year, opened her season with a run to the quarter-finals at last week's Sydney Tennis Classic and also shapes as a potential title threat if she can negotiate her way through the first week.

Bencic will face American Amanda Anisimova next on Wednesday and looms as a potential fourth-round road block to top-seeded Barty.

Other early winners on the opening day included 15th seed Elina Svitolina, who beat Fiona Ferro 6-1 7-6 (7-4).

World No.1 Ash Barty opens her title bid on Monday night against Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko.

with AAP

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