Gadecki powers into second round at Australian Open 2023
Melbourne, Australia, 16 January 2023 | Leigh Rogers
Olivia Gadecki has made a memorable Australian Open main-draw debut.
The 20-year-old Aussie wildcard recorded an impressive 7-5 6-1 victory against qualifier Polina Kudermetova, the younger sister of top-10 star Veronika, in first-round women’s singles action today at Melbourne Park.
Sealing it in style ????
Olivia Gadecki is through to the second round after a powerful straight sets victory, 7-5 6-1 ????#GoAussies • #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/bpnoYBHoR8
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) January 16, 2023
In a battle between two rising stars contesting their first Grand Slam main draws, it was world No.199 Gadecki who proved the most composed.
Opening play at Court 8, Gadecki calmly worked her way into the match against world No.182 Kudermetova.
The Gold Coast talent secured the first break in the 12th game, firing a backhand return winner to clinch the opening set.
With the momentum in her favour, Gadecki charged home. She won seven consecutive games to build a 5-0 lead, then closed out a breakthrough victory against 19-year-old Kudermetova in 76 minutes.
Finishing with seven aces and 19 winners, Gadecki also conceded only nine points on serve in a confident performance.
This is Gadecki’s third career victory against a top 200-ranked opponent and her biggest win since upsetting world No.4 Sofia Kenin as an unranked wildcard during the Melbourne Summer Series in February 2021.
Gadecki’s second-round opponent will be world No.61-ranked Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who eliminated No.28-seeded American Amanda Anisimova in the opening round.
Several more Aussies are scheduled to play their first-round matches later today, including Storm Hunter, Jason Kubler and John Millman.
> READ: Aussies ready for action at AO 2023
AUSSIES IN ACTION – Australian Open
TODAY’S RESULTS
Women’s singles, first round
[WC] Olivia Gadecki (AUS) d [Q] Polina Kudermetova 7-5 6-1
COMING UP
Women’s singles, first round
[WC] Jaimee Fourlis (AUS) v Linda Fruhvirtova (CZE)
[WC] Kimberly Birrell (AUS) v [31] Kaia Kanepi (EST)
[WC] Storm Hunter (AUS) v Wang Xinyu (CHN)
[WC] Talia Gibson (AUS) v [Q] Clara Burel (FRA)
Women’s singles, second round
[WC] Olivia Gadecki (AUS) v Marta Kostyuk (UKR)
Men’s singles, first round
[19] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) v Roman Safiullin
[22] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v Yu Hsiou Hsu (TPE)
Chris O’Connell (AUS) v Jenson Brooksby (USA)
Jordan Thompson (AUS) v J.J. Wolf (USA)
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v Fabio Fognini (ITA)
[Q] Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) v [Q] Brandon Holt (USA)
[Q] Max Purcell (AUS) v Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN)
[WC] Jason Kubler (AUS) v Sebastian Baez (ARG)
[WC] Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v Chun-Hsin Tseng (TPE)
[WC] John Millman (AUS) v Marc-Andrea Huesler (SUI)
[WC] Rinky Hijikata (AUS) v [Q] Yannick Hanfmann (GER)
> READ: Australian Open doubles draws revealed
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