Jessica Pegula 1st player to Australian Open’s 2nd round

MELBOURNE, Australia — Jessica Pegula began her bid for a first Grand Slam singles title by overwhelming Jaqueline Cristian 6-0, 6-1 in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday.

The third-seeded Pegula, a quarterfinalist in Melbourne in each of the past two years, needed just 59 minutes to beat the 161st-ranked Romanian player, who was appearing in her third Grand Slam event.

“Today is just one of those days everything was working,” the American said.

Pegula will play either Czech qualifier Brenda Fruhvirtova or Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round.