Australian Open: Fifteen-year-old Coco Gauff defeats Venus Williams in first round

Fifteen-year-old Coco Gauff defeated 23-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams in the opening round of Australian Open on Monday.

The American young gun announced her arrival in the tennis world last year when she got better of her idol, Venus, in the first round of Wimbledon. The teenager replicated the same dominance in Melbourne to once again seal the match in straight sets.

The first set was no easy for the Coco, who eventually showed maturity to pass through the nervous phase in her maiden Australian Open match. She first gave up three set points after going 5-3 up in the first set before she lost her 5-2 lead in the tie-break. However, a missed backhand volley from Venus at 5-6 helped Coco to clinch the first set.

The youngster was more careful and dominant in the second set where she hardly put any wrong foot. "That was really difficult, she played really well. I was really nervous about today's match. I was a bit shocked, I'm sure everybody was shocked when they saw that draw but I'm really glad to get through it," Coco said in a post-match interview.

"I am feeling great. I really like this court and really like this crowd," added Coco, who is set to play Romanian World No. 74 Sorana Cirstea next.

While Venus is already eliminated, her sister and legendary Serena Willaims is still in the tournament. Serena, who is aiming to win the Australian Open 2020 and equal Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, had an easy first-round outing. The former champion thrashed the Russian teenager, Anastasia Potapova, 6-0, 6-3 and will next face another Russian, TamaraZidanšek in the second round on Wednesday.