“Might be her idol, but she wants to go there & kick my ass, for sure” Jabeur wins to set up Andreeva clash at Australian Open

Ons Jabeur, the No 6 seed, won against Ukrainian qualifier Yulia Starodubtseva 6-3, 6-1 to move into the second round of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday.

The Tunisian did not play any warm-up events prior to the Australian Open, a first for her, and said she was happy to get a win under her belt to start the 2024 season for her.

“Just first match. Tried to be as relaxed as much as possible. Happy to be back and happy to be in the second round. It’s the first time I don’t really play any tournaments before Grand Slams, so it was a big risk,” she told the media after her win.

“This decision was kind of made before the grass season last year. So I felt like I have been getting a lot injured. The season is very long. So I was, like, Okay, maybe it’s better that I take my time, rest, take my time also to do a good preseason. I’m sure after I would be able to play a lot of matches, and I’m not going to miss it much. So I was, like, Okay, I’ll keep full energy for the Australian Open.”

“I’m a big fan of her and love her attitude on the court”- Jabeur on Andreeva

Jabeur, ranked No 6, will play 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva, who cites the Tunisian as one of her idols, in the second round.

Jabeur, herself, is looking forward to the match and had plenty of nice things to say about the teenager who has skyrocketed up the rankings over the past year. “I think she’s been playing amazing, like she has only couple of tournaments that she can play given her age. I feel like they should give her more tournaments to play. It’s going to be a very difficult match. I know she’s 16 years old, but she’s very tough. I might be her idol, but she wants to go there and kick my ass, for sure. But it’s an honor to play her, really. I’m a big fan of her and love her attitude on the court.”

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other first-round matches (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58.910.000, most recent results first):

• Anastasia Zakharova (Q) beat Yulia Putintseva: 2-6, 6-0, 6-3
• Katerina Siniakova beat Jaqueline Cristian: 6-2, 7-5
• Elise Mertens (25) beat Mayar Sherif: 6-2, 2-0 ret.
• Magdalena Frech beat Daria Saville (WC): 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Donna Vekic (21): 6-4, 6-4
• Jasmine Paolini (26) beat Diana Shnaider: 6-3, 6-4
• Marta Kostyuk beat Claire Liu: 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
• Rebeka Masarova beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich: 6-3, 6-4
• Mccartney Kessler (WC) beat Fiona Ferro (Q): 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Tatjana Maria beat Camila Osorio: 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4
• Laura Siegemund beat Ekaterina Alexandrova (17): 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (9)
• Kaja Juvan beat Anastasia Potapova (23): 6-1, 6-4
• Coco Gauff (4) beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova: 6-3, 6-0
• Dayana Yastremska (Q) beat Marketa Vondrousova (7): 6-1, 6-2
• Nadia Podoroska beat Tamara Zidansek: 6-1, 6-0
• Storm Hunter (Q) beat Sara Errani: 6-4, 6-3
• Varvara Gracheva beat Yanina Wickmayer: 6-3, 6-4
• Viktoriya Tomova beat Kayla Day: 6-4, 6-2
• Elina Svitolina (19) beat Taylah Preston (WC): 6-2, 6-2
• Linda Noskova beat Marie Bouzkova (31): 6-1, 7-5
• Aryna Sabalenka (2) beat Ella Seidel (Q): 6-0, 6-1
• Caroline Wozniacki (WC) beat Magda Linette (20): 6-2, 2-0 ret.
• Caroline Dolehide beat Leolia Jeanjean (Q): 6-2, 6-4
• Alina Korneeva (Q) beat Sara Sorribes Tormo: 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Amanda Anisimova beat Liudmila Samsonova (13): 6-3, 6-4
• Diane Parry beat Xinyu Wang (30): 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
• Maria Sakkari (8) beat Nao Hibino: 6-4, 6-1
• Brenda Fruhvirtova (Q) beat Ana Bogdan: 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
• Maria Timofeeva (Q) beat Alize Cornet (WC): 6-2, 6-4
• Alycia Parks beat Daria Snigur (Q): 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
• Tamara Korpatsch beat Jodie Burrage: 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
• Elina Avanesyan beat Zhuoxuan Bai: 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
• Barbora Krejcikova (9) beat Mai Hontama (WC): 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
• Lesia Tsurenko (28) beat Lucia Bronzetti: 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
• Kamilla Rakhimova beat Emina Bektas: 6-4, 6-4
• Leylah Fernandez (32) beat Sara Bejlek (Q): 7-6 (5), 6-2
• Rebecca Marino vs. Jessica Pegula
• Elena Rybakina vs. Karolina Pliskova
• Petra Martic vs. Ajla Tomljanovic
• Emma Raducanu vs. Shelby Rogers
• Qinwen Zheng vs. Ashlyn Krueger
• Yafan Wang vs. Sorana Cirstea
• Aleksandra Krunic vs. Clara Burel
• Katie Boulter vs. Yue Yuan
• Cristina Bucsa vs. Anna Blinkova
• Jelena Ostapenko vs. Kimberly Birrell
• Camila Giorgi vs. Victoria Azarenka
• Lin Zhu vs. Oceane Dodin
• Emma Navarro vs. Xiyu Wang
• Greet Minnen vs. Clara Tauson
• Danielle Collins vs. Angelique Kerber
• Iga Swiatek vs. Sofia Kenin
• Renata Zarazua vs. Martina Trevisan
• Peyton Stearns vs. Daria Kasatkina
• Sloane Stephens vs. Olivia Gadecki
• Elisabetta Cocciaretto vs. Lulu Sun
• Caroline Garcia vs. Naomi Osaka
• Anna Kalinskaya vs. Katie Volynets
• Mirra Andreeva vs. Bernarda Pera
• Anhelina Kalinina vs. Arantxa Rus
• Taylor Townsend vs. Paula Badosa
• Linda Fruhvirtova vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia
• Viktorija Golubic vs. Veronika Kudermetova