• The Australian
• January 18, 2016 1:18PM
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Daria Gavrilova has beaten Lucie Hradecka. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Newly-minted Australian citizen Daria Gavrilova flew the flag high and mighty today becoming the first local through to the second round of the Australian Open in women’s singles.

The Russian-born 21-year-old has held residency for a number of years but received her Australian passport just prior to Christmas.

Today she faced Czech grand slam doubles champion Lucie Hradecka, nine years her senior, but held her nerve for a 7-6(7/3) 6-4 win in the first match on Margaret Court Arena to open the 2016 championships.

“It was a bit shaky in the end. I’m not going to lie - I got a bit tight,” Gavrilova told the crowd. “But I’m very happy I got through in the end.

“She hits a big ball and it was hard in the beginning to get my rhythm right. In the second set I was more aggressive and holding the baseline better.”

Although Hradecka is a far more experienced player on the WTA Tour, it was not that big an upset since Gavrilova is ranked No.39 in the world compared with her opponent’s No53 spot. But that still didn’t help the pre-match nerves for the young Australian.

“It’s unbelievable. Last night I didn’t sleep very well - I was too excited - and I woke up very early this morning,” she said.

She is not in unfamiliar territory, having reached the second round of the Australian Open in 2013. But things don’t get any easier as Gavrilova’s next opponent is sixth seed and two-time Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova.

“Another Czech... she hits a big ball too, so I’ve had good practice I guess,” Gavrilova said.

Kvitova safely negotiated her first round match being the first to play on Rod Laver Arena this morning.

The reigning Fed Cup champion also admitted she had a few nerves ahead of today’s match-up with Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum. And why wouldn’t she when Kumkhum caused a major upset in Melbourne in 2014 by knocking out Kvitova - also seeded No6 two years ago - in the first round.

But today it was a far smoother passage for Kvitova with a 6-3 6-1 win, all over in 110 minutes although she needed a third match point to finish the job.

“I’m very pleased how I played today and handled the nerves. The first round of slams are always tough,” Kvitova said.

She is one of eight grand slam champions in the women’s draw at Melbourne Park. And like two others in Serena Williams (knee) and Maria Sharapova (forearm), Kvitova did not have the easiest of rides in the lead-up to the year’s first major.

She picked up a stomach virus in Shenzhen and had to withdraw from that tournament. She arrived in Sydney hoping to defend her title in the harbour city from 2015 but was not feeling strong enough so withdrew as the second seed there too.

“I had a great off-season and then when I came to China I had some tummy virus. I was just lying around and going quite often to the toilet over nine days,” she said.

“I lost some weight so that’s why I didn’t play Sydney. I am feeling much better now.”

From the Australians’ point of view, five are in action today - three women and two men - with the most anticipated matches being Kick Kyrgios’, the 29th seed, first appearance tonight on Hisense Arena against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta, while on Rod Laver Arena Sam Stosur, the 25th seed, meets Czech Kristyna Pliskova.