Romanian tennis players Gabriela Ruse and Jaqueline Cristian, in different pairs, qualified for the second round of the women's doubles event at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, after their victories in Melbourne on Friday.
Ruse and Ukrainian Marta Kostiuk defeated Australians Destanee Aiava and Maddison Inglis 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), after 1 hour and 43 minutes of play.
Ruse and Kostiuk together have two Grand Slam semifinals in women's doubles, one in Melbourne in 2023 and the other at Roland Garros in 2024.
In the second round, Ruse and Kostiuk will face tough opponents, Elise Mertens (Belgium) and Ellen Perez (Australia), the number six seeds.
Jaqueline Cristian and her Italian partner Camilla Rosatello defeated the pair Cristina Bucsa (Spain)/Iana Sizikova (Russia) 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, after 2 hours and 15 minutes of play.
Cristian and Rosatello's next opponents will be Leylah Fernandez (Canada) and Nadia Kichenok (Ukraine), the 16th seeds.
In another first-round match in women's doubles, Monica Niculescu and American Sofia Kenin were defeated by the pair Miyu Kato (Japan)/Renata Zarazua (Mexico) 6-4, 6-4, after 1 hour and 38 minutes of play.
Niculescu and Kenin earned 40,000 Australian dollars and 10 WTA points in doubles, while the pairs qualifying for the second round have secured 58,000 dollars and 130 WTA points each.
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