Jessica Pegula, Emma Raducanu and Elena Rybakina progress to second round

Listen to Story World No. 3 Elena Rybakina, World No. 5 Jessica Pegula, and teenage sensation Emma Raducanu have progressed to the second round of the 2024 Australian Open as the first round comes to a close. Jessica Pegula showcased her formidable skills on the court with a convincing straight sets victory over Rebecca Marino, dispatching her with scores of 6 2, 6 4.

Pegula's solid effort had set the stage for her next challenge against Clara Burel. Pegula, who had to withdraw from the latter stages of the Adelaide International due to stomach flu last week, will be hoping that the withdrawal was the precaution she needed ahead of the Australian Open after flying through her opener.

The first set was completed in 26 minutes, as she secured a crucial break at 2 1 to take the lead and then built on that with a double break at 5 2 to head towards the opening set, which she easily won. Marino did not have a single opportunity or come close to the Pegula serve, as the American demonstrated her quality throughout.

British sensation Emma Raducanu's journey in the tournament continues after a decisive win against Shelby Rogers. Raducanu, despite a significant drop in her ranking to No. 296 as of January 15, 2024, from a career high of No. 10 on July 11, 2022, demonstrated resilience and skill. Raducanu's first grand slam victory in 12 months marked another positive step forward in her quest to reestablish herself among the world's best players, following an eight month layoff due to surgery on both of her hands and her ankle in April.

Raducanu, who returned to competition in Auckland in the first week of January, has won twice since her return. Her next opponent will be world No. 94 Yafan Wang of China, who has already caused an upset by defeating her initial seeded adversary. Elena Rybakina also secured her place in the second round with a 7 6(6), 6 4 victory over Karolina Pliskova in a tough match.

"It was a really tough match for me today, Karolina played really well," Rybakina said. "But I'm really happy that I managed to win and survive the first set and in the second set it was a little better. I just want to enjoy it here and go as far I can." The Kazakh admitted to being upset when she was scheduled on Court 13 for her opener last year as the reigning Wimbledon champion, but after reaching the final, she received primetime billing on Melbourne Park's main show court on Tuesday.

She entered the Grand Slam in top form, having thrashed Aryna Sabalenka, her opponent last year, to win one warm up tournament in Brisbane and reach the quarter finals of another in Adelaide..