Coco Gauff steered clear of early upsets on Day 4 of the Australian Open, advancing to the third round with a 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory over fellow American Caroline Dolehide.
While sixth-seeded Ons Jabeur and former top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki faced elimination at the hands of young Russian players, Gauff battled through a challenging first set before asserting control in the second.
Dolehide had an opportunity to serve for the opening set at 6-5, but U.S. Open champion Gauff took charge in the tiebreaker.
"It was really hard," Gauff acknowledged. "If you give her something short, she's going to punish you for it, so if I could go back and do something, I'd change that."
Gauff's next opponent will be another American, Alycia Parks, who secured her spot in the third round with a 7-5, 6-4 triumph over 32nd-ranked Leylah Fernandez.
Jabeur, the two-time Wimbledon runner-up, faced a swift exit, making 24 unforced errors in a 6-0, 6-2 loss to 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva in just 54 minutes. This marks the second consecutive year that Jabeur has been eliminated in the second round in Melbourne.
Wozniacki, the 2018 Melbourne Park winner, suffered a 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 defeat to 20-year-old Maria Tomafeeva, making her main draw Grand Slam singles debut this year.
Wozniacki led by a set and 2-0 before Tomafeeva turned the match around with powerful hitting, registering 40 winners.
"I'm really a bit speechless now," Tomafeeva commented. "It was an honor to play here against Caroline today. I was going into the match without any expectations.
I enjoyed every second of it." Wozniacki, who had two children before returning to the WTA Tour last year after 3 1/2 years away, admitted the match "slid out of my hands ... it's definitely disappointing."
Both Jabeur and Wozniacki competed under the roof, on Rod Laver Arena and John Cain Arena, respectively, due to rain causing a three-hour delay for matches on the outside courts.
In other women's results, No. 10-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia defeated last year's junior champion Alina Korneeva 6-1, 6-2, while Amanda Anisimova continued her comeback from a seven-month mental health break with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Nadia Podoroska.
In men's matches, fourth-seeded Jannick Sinner dominated Jesper de Jong 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 at Margaret Court Arena.
The 10th-seeded Australian, Alex de Minaur, overcame Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 and will face Flavio Cobolli, an Italian qualifier, in the next round. No. 12-seeded Taylor Fritz also advanced.
The night matches feature defending champions Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka facing Brenda Fruhvirtova and local hope Alexei Popyrin, respectively.
