MELBOURNE, Australia — Coco Gauff and Venus Williams may face each other in the second round of the Australian Open, adding another chapter to their remarkable tennis journey that began with a 15-year-old defeating a seven-time Grand Slam champion at Wimbledon.
After her historic victory at the All England Club in 2019, Gauff expressed her gratitude to Williams for being a pivotal influence in her career, stating, “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.”
She continued this momentum with a first-round victory at the Australian Open in 2020.
Now seeded No. 3 and a two-time major champion, Gauff will compete against No. 91-ranked Kamilla Rakhimova. Meanwhile, the 45-year-old Williams has received a wild card to enter the Australian Open, marking her first appearance in the tournament in five years.
The tournament kicks off Sunday at Melbourne Park. Williams, who made her Australian Open debut in 1998 and reached the final twice, will face No. 68-ranked Olga Danilovic in the opening round.
Williams is poised to become the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open main draw, surpassing the previous record of 44 years held by Japan’s Kimiko Date, who lost in the first round in 2015.
For Williams to have a chance of meeting Gauff again, she needs to secure a victory—something she hasn’t accomplished in 2026. In her recent tournaments in New Zealand and Hobart, she lost in the first round of both events.
After her 6-4, 6-3 win over Williams on Tuesday, Tatjana Maria remarked that it was a challenging match, saying, “everyone loves Venus. I love her, too.”
Both Gauff and Williams are in the same half of the draw as top seed Aryna Sabalenka, who won consecutive Australian Open titles before falling to Madison Keys in last year’s final.
Sabalenka, fresh off a title win in Brisbane last week, could potentially meet 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu in the third round.
Defending champion Keys, who was ousted in the quarterfinals of the Adelaide International by rising star Victoria Mboko in three sets, shares her quarter with No. 6 Jessica Pegula and No. 4 Amanda Anisimova.
although aiming for a career Grand Slam with her first title at Melbourne Park, No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek resides in the bottom quarter and could face four-time major winner Naomi Osaka in the fourth round.
Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic are both situated in the same half of the draw, setting the stage for a potential semifinal showdown between the defending champion and the 24-time major winner.
Djokovic, a 10-time Australian Open titleholder, has not advanced beyond the semifinals at Melbourne Park since 2023. After the draw, he participated in an exhibition against Frances Tiafoe on Rod Laver Arena. He withdrew from a warmup tournament in Adelaide last week to ensure he is well-prepared for the Open.
Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz is on the opposite side of the draw from Sinner and Djokovic, with Tiafoe and local favorite, sixth-seeded Alex De Minaur, in his quarter.
