Greece’s Michaela Laki acknowledged the level of inspiration provided by compatriots Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari after powering into the second round at the Australian Open Junior Championships.

Despite making her Australian Open debut, Laki appeared nerveless as she navigated a first-set tiebreak before cantering to victory over Switzerland’s Chelsea Fontenel 76(3) 60 in her opening bout of the tournament.

The 16-year-old was on court at the same time as Tsitsipas – an individual she admires immensely – was continuing his own march towards the business end of the men’s draw with a 4-set victory over Frenchman Benoit Paire.

At the conclusion of her match, Laki immediately headed to Rod Laver Arena to catch a glimpse of Tsitsipas in action as he made it through to the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the seventh time.

Those are statistics that Laki would dearly love to mirror as her career progresses, and with two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Sakkari making moves in the women’s game, she certainly has a couple of national treasures as role models and symbols of national pride.  

“For any Greek athlete, Stefanos and Maria are a great inspiration,” Laki told itftennis.com.

“They motivate us to play our best and reach our goals. They also make us feel like we can do the same as them. Being at the same tournament as them is very special and it motivates me to play my best and be like them.

“Whenever I see Stefanos or Maria, we always speak. They always wish us good luck and they are great personalities on and off the court. I really want them to win the men’s and women’s tournaments here, that would be special.

“I was very excited watching Stefanos play after my match and I was shouting, ‘Vamos, Stef’, ‘Vamos, Stef’, and I do the same with Maria also. I am always super-excited whenever I watch them play and I really love the way they play.

“When I started playing tennis, Stefanos and Maria didn’t play such big tournaments, and Greece didn’t have so many good players, except for Elena Daniilidou, and I always used to look up to Roger Federer and Serena Williams.

“Now, Stefanos and Maria are a great inspiration and not just for me, for every Greek athlete. I know the path is hard, but I am willing to do everything I can to get to their level.”

Neither Tsitsipas nor Sakkari won a Junior Grand Slam during their fledgling careers, while Laki, who is seeded No. 6 in the girls’ draw, is now five victories away from securing a landmark title.

Should that be achieved, perhaps she will be afforded a similar accolade to Tsitsipas when he reached his first Grand Slam semi-final here in 2019: a Melbourne restaurant named a souvlaki in his honour. That is a discussion for the future, but the early signs are that her name is starting to resonate.

“I really like the atmosphere here,” said Laki, who faces Great Britain’s Ranah Akua Stoiber in the second round.

“Melbourne has a huge Greek community, and I was very excited to come and experience that. There were a lot of Greeks outside the court supporting me, which was great.

“It was the first time I played here, and I was a little nervous at the beginning as I wanted to win so much. I’m very pleasured with the result.”

Elsewhere, the first victory of this year’s Australian Open Junior Championships belonged to Russia’s Ksenia Zaytseva, who at No. 3 was the highest-seeded girl in action on the tournament’s opening day.

Like Laki, Zaytseva was making her Australian Open debut and ruthlessly dispatched qualifier Li Yu-Yun of Chinese Taipei, brushing aside her rival with minimal fuss and prevailing 6-2 6-1 in 62 minutes.

“I am very happy to start the first Junior Grand Slam of the year with a win,” Zaytseva told itftennis.com. “The start of the match was not so good for me, but later I felt good and that makes me really happy.

“I am really enjoying being here in Australia at this Grand Slam. I am one of the top seeds here, but I just want to go step by step, round by round, and see what happens.”

Having already equalled her best Junior Grand Slam showing – the 17-year-old made the second round at the Junior Championships, Wimbledon in July – Zaytseva now faces Romania’s Anca Alexia Todoni for a place in round three.

No. 5 seed Clervie Ngounoue of the United States, meanwhile, is another fancied player to have progressed to the second round after defeating France’s Nahia Berecoechea 6-3 6-4.

However, there was not universal success for the higher-ranked players on the opening day and fourth seed Solana Sierra was the biggest casualty. Sierra bowed out of the maiden Junior Grand Slam of the season after succumbing 6-2 6-4 to Irina Balus of Slovakia, who sits 48 places below the Argentinian in the junior world rankings.

Croatia’s Mili Poljicak was the highest-ranked boy to take to the court today, although the second seed was forced to recover from a set down before overcoming Russia’s Arthur Kukasian 4-6 6-4 6-3.

Poljicak, fresh from conquering all before him at last week’s warm-up event at J1 Traralgon, revealed in a recent interview with itftennis.com that he has allowed himself to dream about winning the Australian Open boys’ title.

His next hurdle comes in the form of Matthew Williams Donald of Czech Republic, who overpowered Italian qualifier Giammarco Gandolfi 7-5 6-1 to retain a strong interest in proceedings.

There was also progress for fellow Czech Jakub Mensik, who is seeded No. 4 here, Poland’s Olaf Pieczkowski and Russia’s Yaroslav Demin, with the latter accounting for No. 10 seed Kalin Ivanovski of North Macedonia.

Instantly recognisable with his striking blonde hair, Demin was an integral part of the Russia team crowned Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas champions in October and he ensured his place in round two courtesy of a 7-6(3) 7-5 triumph.

Junior Grand Slam debutant Demin, who is ranked No. 68 in the boys’ rankings, will now do battle with Belgium’s Gilles Arnaud Bailly as he attempts to plot a course to the latter stages of the competition. Bailly, however, will have similar ambitions. As ever, all to play for.

Further information on the Australian Open Junior Championships, including a full set of results, is available here.