Australian Open: Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula AND Danielle Collins all win as Americans enjoy success

Americans Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Frances Tiafoe and Danielle Collins reached the second round in contrasting fashion at the Australian Open on Monday.

Third-seeded Pegula edged past Jaqueline Cristian of Romania 6-0, 6-1, while seventh-seeded Gauff overcame a second-set wobble to beat Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 6-4.

Last year’s runner-up to Ash Barty and the 13th seed, Collins battled a left knee injury as she defeated Anna Kalinskaya 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, while Frances Tiafoe, the second-highest seeded American, beat Daniel. Altmaier in four sets.

Coco Gauff overcame a slight wobble in the second set to beat Katerina Siniakova in Australia

Gauff has now established a delicious second-round tie against Britain’s Emma Raducanu

Frances Tiafoe, in a VERY bold outfit, beat out Daniel Altmaier to book her spot in round two.

The flamboyant American dropped a set, but was able to rally and secure victory.

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

A quarter-finalist in Melbourne in each of the past two years, Pegula needed just 59 minutes to overcome 161st-ranked Cristian, who was appearing in his third Grand Slam event.

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

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

Tiafoe, meanwhile, took a two-set lead, before losing a tiebreaker against German Altmaier in their first-round match in the men’s singles.

The match threatened to turn in his opponent’s favor in another tiebreaker in the fourth, but he fought back to win it 8-6 and seal the match. He will play Chinese qualifier Juncheng Shang in the second round.

Jessica Pegula, daughter of the owners of the Buffalo Bills, also triumphed in Melbourne

Danielle Collins continued a brilliant day for the Americans in the women’s singles competition.

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

The Czech player led 4-2 in the second set, but Gauff rallied and secured victory on her seventh match point.

“I didn’t expect to open the tournament with Rod Laver,” Gauff said. ‘I am very honored that the tournament has chosen me and Katerina. I am very happy with myself. Katerina is a fighter, I knew that she was going to fight for every point. I just stayed strong mentally.

Collins managed to fight back in three sets despite picking up a left knee injury.

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

Collins required a medical timeout with a left knee problem early in the first set of her match with Kalinskaya, but survived 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 6-3, 6-4 by Marta Kostyuk.