Coco Gauff has stormed into the Australian Open second round after beating Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2, 6-3.
WTA number three Gauff is the third seed at the hard-court Grand Slam, and now meets Olga Danilovic in round two.
She was denied a blockbuster clash against fellow American Venus Williams, who lost to Danilovic in her first round match at the Australian Open.
Gauff needed one hour and 39 minutes to win her match against Rakhimova, which was hosted by Rod Laver Arena.
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Coco Gauff joins exclusive American list after Australian Open win
Gauff now has 75 Grand Slam match wins to her name from 98 appearances, boasting a 23-4 record in first round ties.
She has now followed in the footsteps of a handful of female American icons with at least 75 wins from their first 100 Grand Slam matches.
With 90 wins, Chris Evert tops that exclusive list, followed by the 86 of Serena Williams and the 85 of Venus Williams.
Pam Shriver is next in line with 76, followed by the 75 of Gauff, Mary Joe Fernandez and Lindsay Davenport.
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Gauff has also emulated legendary duo Venus and Serena Williams in a similar vein following her early success in Melbourne.
Since 2000, she is one of just four women aged 21 or younger to win 75 or more Grand Slam singles matches.
Also on that exclusive list are Serena and Venus Williams and their fellow WTA legend Maria Sharapova, as per OptaAce.
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But while there are plenty of reasons to be positive for Gauff, her ongoing serving struggles came to the fore once more.
She hit seven double faults compared to Rakhimova’s four, but importantly showed her fine mental strength and indeed skill in other areas to clinch a straightforward win.
It’s both remarkable and impressive that she can push on despite the clear issue, although it may come back to haunt her at the latter stages of the Grand Slam.
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