Coco Gauff eased into the third round of Australian Open 2026 on Wednesday with a straight-sets win over Olga Danilovic 6-2 6-2 at Margaret Court Arena, the American and Serbian facing each other for the first time.
MORE: All the scores from AO 2026
Danilovic came back from a set down to beat Venus Williams in the first round but was no match for No.3 seed Gauff, whose powerful groundstrokes, control and agility visibly unnerved her opponent.
Gauff appeared calm and focused on the court, dispensing of Danilovic in one hour and 17 minutes.
“I missed the backhand at 40-love to go five-zero but other than that it was perfect,” she said.
The 21-year-old has not ruled out mixing up her shot selection more during the tournament, where she next faces compatriot Hailey Baptiste, who beat Australian qualifier Storm Hunter.
“Honestly the drop shot is always a bad idea in my head and then I make it and I’m like ‘Oh okay, that was good’,” Gauff said.
“In my first match I won like seven drop shot points, which I don’t think I’ve ever done. Today I won all of them that I did. It’s a good shot until I miss it. My coach said don’t drop shot on pressure points. I think almost every time I drop shotted today was on a pressure, and it worked.”
Gauff emerged about an hour after the match to speak with media again in a press conference, where the focus was more on her political and philanthropic views rather than the day’s match or her evolving game style that is paying dividends.
“I think continuing to be aggressive the way I thought I had to be – ultra-aggressive, hitting completely flat – I realised that’s probably not the game style for me,” Gauff reflected on the latter.
“I still want to be aggressive, but just playing with a bit more spin, and kind of playing like how some of the guys do – taking more space and hitting heavier shots, not necessarily flatter shots.
“I think with the way my strokes are that just makes more sense for me and, so far this year, I’ve been able to execute that and be more comfortable with that playing style, and then also not being too passive in tight moments.”
Gauff has let her game do the talking at the tournament so far, leaving fashion statements to Naomi Osaka and sparkling custom jewellery for No.1 seed Aryna Sabalenka. Dressed in a pair of casual khaki shorts, a white T-shirt and stud earrings, she observed improvements in her first two matches even though the scoreboard in both was similar.
“Today felt a bit better, I felt better off the serve for sure, and off the ground,” Gauff said.
“I think that goes with first-round nerves, and also two different game styles. Even though my first round was a straightforward score, there were so many games that went long, like, 10-minute games that were deuce, ad, back and forth. I think today I did better at closing those games out quicker.”
The French Open champion is gathering momentum at AO 2026, and if Baptiste wasn’t on notice before, she surely is now.
“I’m really excited to play her,” Gauff said.
“I’ve known her for so long, and it’s always great to see people you come up with do well on the tour and be able to face them in these big matches. The last time I played her was a while ago and we’ve both gotten better since then, so it will be different, but I’m looking forward to it.
“It won’t be easy, but I’m proud of us to make it to this stage.”