Jasmine Paolini powered into the Australian Open second round with a straight-sets demolition to kickstart the action in a hot and sunny Melbourne on Sunday. The seventh-seeded Italian outclassed Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena. READ: Alex Eala at Australian Open 2026 main draw: What to know Italian pocket rocket LAUNCHED into the second round – Paolini wins 6-1, 6-2!@wwos • @espn • @tntsports • @wowowtennis • #AO26 pic.twitter.com/mftSWAz9An — #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2026 Paolini faces Poland’s Magdalena Frech or Veronika Erjavec of Slovenia next. “It was pretty good today, I did not expect that,” […]... Keep on reading: Jasmine Paolini races into round two to kickstart Australian Open