Sixth seed Elena Rybakina made a triumphant return to Melbourne Park on Tuesday, needing just 53 minutes to secure a 6-1 6-1 win over Australian wildcard Emerson Jones in the opening round of AO 2025.
MORE: All the scores from Day 3 at AO 2025
“I’m pretty happy with my performance,” said the 25-year-old Kazakh. “Happy with the way I served,” added the powerful right-hander, whose first serve averaged 174km/h, outpacing Jones’ at 148km/h.
Rybakina, now working with Goran Ivanisevic who coached Novak Djokovic to three of his AO titles, joked that she hasn’t yet compared her service motion to the Croatian legend’s.
“Maybe I need to challenge him on the practice [court],” she grinned.
“I think she is very young, very talented, and [has a] great future ahead of her,” Rybakina said of Jones, who served six double faults in her AO main draw debut. Asked what advice she’d impart to the youngster, Rybakina kept it simple: “Be patient and work hard.”
MORE: AO 2025 women's singles draw
A vocal crowd on Margaret Court Arena sought to lift the 16-year-old Queenslander, and showed their appreciation for her six winners, which were overshadowed by Rybakina’s 26.
Under pressure at the end of the first set, the former world No. 3 saved the only three break points with a trio of her 11 aces.
Another first-time opponent awaits the AO 2023 finalist in the round of 64; American wildcard Iva Jovic, ranked 191.
"I don't know her at all, so I will need to watch a bit of her matches," said Rybakina, who revealed that she'd sought insight on Jones' game from the teen's Adelaide International conqueror Daria Kasatkina.
The Australian said it was exciting to compete against Rybakina, and was somewhat in awe of the sixth seed's superlative level of tennis.
"It was a great experience for me," said the right-hander, whose immediate takeaway from the match is that she needs hone her serve.
"I think it's exciting that we get to go back and work on all the things that I need to improve."
Jones, the junior world No. 1, plans to contest the four Grand Slam junior events this year and beyond that, will focus on lowering her women's ranking, which currently sits at a career-high 293. Immediately after the AO, she's scheduled to play a pair of ITF W75 events in Brisbane.