Two fan favorites were easy winners on Day 1 of the Australian Open, as No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini and former Top 10 player Maria Sakkari each punched their ticket through to the second round in straight sets with the loss of nine combined games.
Australian Open: Scores | Draws | Order of play
Paolini never trailed in a 6-1, 6-2 win over qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, while Sakkari rallied from a 4-1 first-set deficit to see off France’s Leolia Jeanjean. After both players began their 2026 seasons by representing their respective countries at the United Cup, each will be hoping to better an all-time career-best result of a fourth round in Melbourne this year.
“I think I played a solid match. I was focused I think all the time, so it was good,” Paolini said post-match. “It’s not easy to play the first match and the slams on a big court, but I’m happy with my performance.”
Some of the most notable facts and figures from both wins included:
1: The Greek No. 1 only faced one break point in the entire match, which came in her first service game. She hit back-to-back forehand unforced errors at 30-30 to drop serve and trail 2-0.
Paolini also only faced one break point — and she saved it — in the first game of the first match of the tournament on Rod Laver Arena. Sasnovich missed a backhand that would’ve given her an opening break, and two points later, Paolini converted her advantage with a forehand winner.
2: In both games that Sasnovich won in the second set, she saved break points.
4: The No. 7 seed needed four match points to see herself through to the second round. Sasnovich dug out of 15-40 when she served to stay in the match down 6-1, 5-1 — a game in which she hit two of the nine winners she totaled in the contest overall.
5: Sakkari won five straight games in both sets to win a first-round match in Melbourne for the eighth time in 11 career appearances.
10: In 13 games played, Paolini struck 10 winners.
13: Paolini is now 13-12 in the first round of Grand Slams in her career. She has won nine straight.
25: Paolini is contesting her 25th career Grand Slam main draw at this year’s Australian Open.
30: Sasnovich made a whopping 39 unforced errors in the match — while Paolini made just nine.
40: Sakkari is contesting her 40th Grand Slam main draw at this year’s Australian Open. She has played 38 in a row dating back to Wimbledon in 2016.
Other early winners on Day 1 included Australian wild card Talia Gibson, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Anna Blinkova; Yulia Putintseva, who rallied to beat Beatriz Haddad Maia 3-6, 7-5, 6-3; and Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who upset No. 26 seed and former Australian Open semifinalist Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 7-5.
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