Australian Open: Stephens shocked; No. 1 Barty fights back

Sloane Stephens of the US reacts after a point against China's Shuai Zhang during their women's singles match on day one of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. Pic/AFP

Melbourne: Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens became the highest seed to exit the women's draw on Day One of the Australian Open on Monday.

The 2017 Grand Slam winner at Flushing Meadows and 24th seed in Melbourne lost in three sets to Zhang Shuai and is in the midst of a poor run of form. The Chinese defeated the American 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 with Stephens having now lost all of her three matches in 2020.

Meanwhile, World No. 1 and home hope Ashleigh Barty suffered a scare before powering into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday. She recovered from a slow start to see off Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 under the roof.

American Coco Gauff, only 15, said she's on "a mission to be the greatest" on Monday after stunning veteran Venus Williams once again in the first round of a Grand Slam. The fast-rising Gauff, ranked 67 in the world, defeated the seven-time Grand Slam winner 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 at the Australian Open.

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