Jessica Pegula is 1st player to Australian Open’s 2nd round

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Jessica Pegula began her bid for a first Grand Slam singles title by overwhelming Jaqueline Cristian 6-0, 6-1 in the first round of the Australian Open. The third-seeded Pegula was a quarterfinalist in Melbourne in each of the past two years. She needed just 59 minutes to beat the 161st-ranked Romanian player, who was appearing in her third Grand Slam event. The American said: “Today is just one of those days everything was working.” Pegula will play either Czech qualifier Brenda Fruhvirtova or Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round.