01/14/26 10:55:00
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01/14 22:50 CST Coco Gauff and Venus Williams could clash in Australian Open
second round
Coco Gauff and Venus Williams could clash in Australian Open second round
By JOHN PYE
AP Sports Writer
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) --- Coco Gauff and Venus Williams could meet in the
second round of the Australian Open, more than six years after they first
played each other in a major.
Gauff was 15 when she beat seven-time major winner Venus Williams in the first
round at Wimbledon in 2019 in her Grand Slam debut.
Now she's the No. 3 seed and a two-time major winner. The 45-year-old Williams
has a wild-card entry for the Australian Open, where she's playing for the
first time in five years.
Williams is set to become the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open
main draw, surpassing the record previously held by Japan's Kimiko Date, who
was 44 when she lost in the first round at Melbourne Park in 2015.
The draw for the year's first major was held Thursday at Melbourne Park. The
tournament starts Sunday.
Gauff will open against No. 91-ranked Kamilla Rakhimova. No. 576-ranked
Williams, who made her Australian Open debut in 1998 and has twice reached the
final, will open against No. 68-ranked Olga Danilovic.
They're on the same half of the draw as top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, who won
back-to-back Australian Open titles before losing last year's final to Madison
Keys.
Sabalenka has a potential third-round meeting against 2021 U.S. Open winner
Emma Raducanu.
Defending champion Keys was drawn into the same quarter as No. 6 Jessica
Pegula, and No. 4 Amanda Anisimova. No. 2-ranked Iga ?wi?tek is in the bottom
quarter on that side of the draw and has a potential fourth-round match against
Naomi Osaka.
Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic landed in the same half of the draw, setting
up a potential semifinal between the defending champion and the 23-time major
winner.
Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz is on the opposite side of the draw to Sinner and
Djokovic.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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