Australians Olivia Gadecki, Taylah Preston and Astra Sharma all scored first-round qualifying wins at Roland Garros 2024.
Paris, France, 21 May 2024 | Leigh Rogers
Three Australian women scored wins on the opening day of action in the Roland Garros 2024 qualifying competition.
Taylah Preston made a dream pro-level debut in Paris, powering to a 6-2 6-4 victory against Croatian Tara Wurth.
The 21-year-old Wurth lists clay as her favourite surface and won an ITF 75 tournament in Croatia last week, dropping only a single set in an impressive run.
However, the less experienced Preston had her measure in their first-round clash.
The highly touted 18-year-old from Perth fired 18 winners to 12, helping her wrap up victory in 86 minutes.
World No.137 Preston will face a fellow debutante, 18-year-old Alexandra Eala from the Philippines, in the next round.
Astra Sharma was tested early in her opening-round meeting with German Ella Seidel, however, finished strongly to run out a 2-6 7-6(4) 6-2 victor.
The 28-year-old from Perth struck six aces, including three in the deciding set, in the one-hour and 54-minute encounter.
This is world No.130 Sharma’s first win at Roland Garros since 2021, when she reached the second round as a main-draw wildcard.
Sharma next faces Hungarian Timea Babos, a former world No.25 and a two-time Roland Garros doubles champion.
Olivia Gadecki eliminated a seeded opponent in the opening round, dismissing world No.122 McCartney Kessler in straight sets.
World No.165 Gadecki’s 7-6(4) 6-1 triumph is the biggest win of her career, in a completed match, on European clay.
The 22-year-old from the Gold Coast struck 30 winners to seven in the one-hour and 38-minute match.
This sets up a second-round showdown with Argentina’s Solana Sierra, a 19-year-old who was a Roland Garros girls’ singles finalist in 2022.
Seven more Australians are scheduled to play their first-round matches on day two of qualifying in Paris.
> VIEW: Roland Garros 2024 qualifying day two schedule
Players need to win three rounds to earn a coveted main-draw spot at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament.
Aussies in action – Roland Garros
RESULTS
Women’s qualifying singles, first round
[22] Astra Sharma (AUS) d Ella Seidel (GER) 2-6 7-6(4) 6-2
[30] Taylah Preston (AUS) d Tara Wurth (CRO) 6-2 6-4
Olivia Gadecki (AUS) d [19] McCartney Kessler (USA) 7-6(4) 6-1
Elena-Gabriela Ruse (ROU) d Talia Gibson (AUS) 6-1 6-1
Anastasia Tikhonova d Jaimee…
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