Preview: Australian Open: Coco Gauff vs. Olga Danilovic - prediction, head-to-head, tournament so far

Fresh off a stunning comeback win over Venus Williams in the Australian Open first round, Olga Danilovic faces American No. 1 Coco Gauff in Wednesday’s second-round match.

Danilovic was trailing 4-0 in the third set before launching a remarkable comeback to defeat the seven-time Grand Slam champion; however, she now faces a different challenge, aiming to cause the world No. 3’s earliest exit Down Under since 2022.

Match preview

Despite seven double faults in one hour and 39 minutes, Gauff needed only two sets to beat Kamilla Rakhimova in her first-round match.

A key statistic was the 21-year-old's second-serve return points won (75%), highlighting how often the two-time Slam champion punished the world No. 93's second deliveries during the match.

This two-set victory means that the former world No. 2 has not exited in the first round in Australia since her 2022 defeat to Wang Qiang; she reached the fourth round in 2023, semi-finals the following year and the quarter-finals 12 months ago.

With the American No. 1 now holding a 17-6 overall record at the first Major of the year, she aims to secure her 18th victory to advance to the third round.

Already at 4-1 for the season, the third seed now seeks her fifth win to prevent Wednesday's opponent from recording another victory against an American player.

Danilovic defeated McCartney Kessler and Peyton Stearns in Hobart heading into the first Slam of the year, and was seeking a third victory against the oldest woman to participate in the event's history.

At 45 years and seven months, Williams led 4-0 in the third set and appeared poised to record a historic win over the 24-year-old; however, Danilovic had other ideas, coming from a set behind and 4-0 down in the decider to clinch a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Sunday's win extended the Serbian's streak of never losing a first-round match at Melbourne Park, following a run to the second round in 2021 and to the last 16 in 2025.

Last year’s performance matched the 24-year-old’s best at a Slam—the 2024 French Open—and improving to 5-2 at the Aussie Open overall means Danilovic now boasts a 71.4% win rate.

Having claimed three consecutive wins over American players in 2026, the world No. 69, whose only loss to an American came at Wimbledon to Madison Keys, aims to notch a fifth victory over players from the USA by stunning the nation’s No. 1.

Tournament so far

Coco Gauff:

First round: vs. Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2 6-3

Olga Danilovic:

First round: vs. Venus Williams 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4

Head To Head

Gauff and Danilovic will meet for the first time on the WTA Tour, and the winner will take a 1-0 lead in their head-to-head.

The Serbian enters Wednesday at 0-3 in the last 52 weeks against top-10 opponents; however, two of her three career victories over top players have been against Americans: Madison Keys and Danielle Collins.

We say: Gauff to win in two sets

Gauff has won 14 of her last 15 matches against left-handed opponents — 20-5 overall across all tours — and the American No. 1 should claim another victory over Danilovic to advance to the third round, where either Storm Hunter or Hailey Baptiste awaits.