Tennis-Rybakina eases past local wildcard Jones in Melbourne

By Lidia Kelly

MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Elena Rybakina overpowered Emerson Jones 6-1 6-1 in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday after the much-anticipated Grand Slam debut of the local teenager turned into one-sided showcase for the world number seven.

The best first serve in women’s tennis was on full display on Margaret Court Arena as Rybakina summoned up 11 aces and quickly snuffed out the three break points earned by the 16-year-old Australian.

“She has a great future and many more years on tour, but I am pretty happy with my performance,” the 25-year-old Rybakina said on court.

“I watched a bit of her matches, of course … I think she is very talented and has a great future ahead of her.”

Wildcard Jones was a finalist in juniors at the Australian Open and Wimbledon last year and is seen by some as a potential successor to former world number one Ash Barty.

She struggled to make use of the down-the-line forehand that proved effective in previous matches this season, most notably when she downed world number 37 Wang Xinyu at the Adelaide International earlier this month.

On Tuesday, she was at her best when playing the ball low against the tall former Wimbledon champion but too often her nerves took over and she snatched at it too eagerly and sprayed her shots high or wide.

“The whole match I was a bit nervous because I didn’t really know what to expect,” the 16-year-old said.

“Now I know the level, so that’s probably the highest level that anyone could get. I think now, knowing the level, I think it’s exciting that we get to go back and work on all the things that I need to improve.”

Rybakina has been criticised at times for being slow on her feet but the sixth seed did not have to move much in a match dominated by short rallies.

“Of course, I didn’t know how she plays,” Rybakina said, adding that she got advice from her current coach Goran Ivanisevic and Stefano Vukov, her former coach who has since rejoined her team.

Vukov was provisionally suspended by the governing body of women’s tennis pending an investigation into a potential breach of its code of conduct. Rybakina said that Vukov was not on the court on Tuesday.

The Kazakh will face another teenage wildcard, American Iva Jovic, in the second round.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)