Australian Open Day 1: Paolini and Sakkari Fire Up Melbourne in Straight Sets
18 January 2026
Svitolina advances at the Australian Open while Kostyuk exits early.
Seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini and former tenth seed Maria Sakkari booked their second-round spots at the Australian Open on Sunday, each winning in straight sets and conceding only nine games in total.
Paolini, who had not dropped a set in Melbourne yet, defeated Alexandra Sasnovich 6-1, 6-2, while Sakkari overturned an early 4-1 deficit in the first set to defeat Frenchwoman Leolia Jeanjean 6-4, 6-2. After beginning 2026 representing their countries in the Billie Jean King Cup, both players hope to surpass their best Melbourne result by reaching the fourth round.
Paolini spoke after the match, per the WTA Tour site, saying she played a solid, focused match. “It’s not easy to play the first Grand Slam match on a big court, but I’m happy with my performance.”
Paolini now owns nine straight first-round wins at Grand Slams, bringing her career first-round record to 13-12.
She is in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the 25th time, while Sakkari is into her 40th appearance (38 of them consecutive since Wimbledon 2016).
In other first-round action, Australian wildcard Talia Gibson defeated Anna Blinkova 6-1, 6-3, while Kazakhstan’s Zhuk Putintseva came back from a set down to beat Beatriz Haddad Maia 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse knocked out 26th seed Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 7-5, and defeated Frenchwoman Elsa Jacquemot 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 in a decisive tie-break sequence.
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, seeded 12, had little trouble defeating Spain’s Kaja? Christiana Buksa 6-4, 6-1.
Hailey Baptiste claimed the all-American clash against Taylor Townsend 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.
American Caty McNally advanced to the second round after a straightforward 6-3, 6-1 win over Himeno Sakatsumi.
Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, the 11th seed, fell in the first round to Turkish Zeynep Sönmez 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, while compatriot Polina Kudermetova defeated a Spanish opponent 6-2, 6-3.
Punchlines: If Paolini’s forehand had a aiming reticle, opponents would file it under “do not engage.” If Sakkari’s returns were a sniper, the target would file a complaint for excessive accuracy on center court.
