Australian Open: Paolini races past qualifier Wei to breeze into second round

Italian Jasmine Paolini, the No 4 seed, advanced to the second round of the Australian Open by defeating Chinese qualifier Sijia Wei 6-0, 6-4 at Melbourne Park.

“I feel very happy of course. It is not always easy to play in the first round,” Paolini said in her on-court interview following the win.

“She [Wei Sijia] was playing unbelievable [in the second set], she was returning so fast.

“I didn’t know this girl before, she played really good tennis and I think we will see her soon in the top 100.

“It is great to be back in Australia. Thank you guys for coming. Last year was unexpected for sure, it was an amazing year.

“It is a new year, I’m excited to be back. Until last year I had not won here. The last year gave me so much confidence.

Paolini, ranked No 4, will play the winner of the match between American Taylor Townsend and Mexican Renata Zarazua next.

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other first-round results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 60.627.573, most recent results first):

• Veronika Kudermetova vs. Olivia Gadecki
• Rebecca Marino vs. Katie Boulter
• Camila Osorio vs. Maria Sakkari: tuesday
• Anhelina Kalinina vs. Ons Jabeur: tuesday
• Taylor Townsend vs. Renata Zarazua: tuesday
• Madison Keys (19) beat Ann Li: 6-4, 7-5
• Shuai Zhang (WC) beat McCartney Kessler: 6-3, 6-4
• Elena-Gabriela Ruse (Q) beat Irina-Camelia Begu: 6-4, 6-0
• Yulia Putintseva (24) beat Elina Avanesyan: 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
• Danka Kovinic beat Lulu Sun: 6-3, 7-5
• Elena Rybakina (6) beat Emerson Jones (WC): 6-1, 6-1
• Varvara Gracheva beat Catherine McNally: 6-3, 6-4
• Eva Lys (13) beat Kimberly Birrell (Q): 6-2, 6-2
• Dayana Yastremska (32) beat Mayar Sherif: 6-1, 6-4
• Iva Jovic (WC) beat Nuria Parrizas Diaz: 6-2, 6-1
• Emma Navarro (8) beat Peyton Stearns: 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5
• Amanda Anisimova beat Maria Lourdes Carle: 6-2, 6-3
• Emma Raducanu beat Ekaterina Alexandrova (26): 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2)
• Daria Kasatkina (9) beat Viktoriya Tomova: 6-1, 6-3
• Yafan Wang beat Anna Bondar: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Xiyu Wang beat Julia Grabher: 6-1, 7-5
• Erika Andreeva beat Saisai Zheng: 6-1, 7-6 (6)
• Beatriz Haddad Maia (15) beat Julia Riera (Q): 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
• Naomi Osaka beat Caroline Garcia: 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
• Danielle Collins (10) beat Daria Snigur (Q): 7-6 (4), 6-3
• Karolina Muchova (20) beat Nadia Podoroska: 6-1, 6-1
• Destanee Aiava (Q) beat Greet Minnen: 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5)
• Elise Mertens beat Viktorija Golubic (Q): 4-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4
• Marta Kostyuk (17) beat Nao Hibino (Q): 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
• Jaqueline Cristian beat Petra Martic (LL): 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7)
• Jessica Pegula (7) beat Maya Joint (WC): 6-3, 6-0
• Jule Niemeier beat Maja Chwalinska (Q): 6-0, 6-1
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (27) beat Yue Yuan: 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
• Belinda Bencic beat Jelena Ostapenko (16): 6-3, 7-6 (6)
• Anastasia Potapova beat Tamara Zidansek (Q): 6-2, 7-5
• Iga Swiatek (2) beat Katerina Siniakova: 6-3, 6-4
• Caroline Dolehide beat Sara Bejlek (Q): 7-6 (5), 6-2
• Harriet Dart (LL) beat Jana Fett (Q): 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (7)
• Lucia Bronzetti beat Victoria Azarenka (21): 6-2, 7-6 (2)
• Elina Svitolina (28) beat Sorana Cirstea: 6-4, 6-4
• Magdalena Frech (23) beat Polina Kudermetova (Q): 6-4, 6-4
• Coco Gauff (3) beat Sofia Kenin: 6-3, 6-3
• Ajla Tomljanovic (WC) beat Ashlyn Krueger: 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
• Rebecca Sramkova beat Katie Volynets: 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
• Olga Danilovic beat Arantxa Rus: 6-4, 6-4
• Liudmila Samsonova (25) beat Kamilla Rakhimova: 6-2, 6-4
• Talia Gibson (WC) beat Zeynep Sonmez: 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1
• Jodie Burrage beat Leolia Jeanjean (Q): 6-2, 6-4
• Laura Siegemund beat Hailey Baptiste: 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
• Diana Shnaider (12) beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto: 7-6 (4), 6-4
• Moyuka Uchijima beat Magda Linette: 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8)
• Anna Blinkova beat Daria Saville (WC): 1-6, 6-4, 7-5
• Cristina Bucsa beat Chloe Paquet (WC): 6-2, 6-3
• Aryna Sabalenka (1) beat Sloane Stephens: 6-3, 6-2
• Jessica Bouzas Maneiro beat Sonay Kartal: 6-1, 7-6 (5)
• Clara Tauson beat Linda Noskova (29): 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
• Paula Badosa (11) beat Xinyu Wang: 6-3, 7-6 (5)
• Donna Vekic (18) beat Diane Parry: 6-4, 6-4
• Qinwen Zheng (5) beat Anca Todoni (Q): 7-6 (3), 6-1
• Suzan Lamens beat Veronika Erjavec (Q): 7-5, 7-6 (2)
• Leylah Fernandez (30) beat Yuliia Starodubtseva: 7-5, 6-4
• Mirra Andreeva (14) beat Marie Bouzkova: 6-3, 6-3
• Tatjana Maria beat Bernarda Pera: 7-6 (3), 6-4