Mayar Sherif made history for Egyptian tennis on day two of the 2021 Australian Open, becoming the first woman from her nation to win a Grand Slam main draw match after downing fellow qualifier Chloe Pacquet of France 7-5 7-5.

Sherif, who became the first Egyptian woman to contest a Grand Slam draw at Roland Garros in September and took former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova to three sets, said the conditions in Melbourne took some getting used to, but was thrilled to receive raucous support from the stands.

“Finally this is barrier that I had to pass, a mental barrier,” said Sherif, who will face Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan for a place in the third round.

“With the conditions that are here it was very, very tough to adapt to it, especially to adapt my game to it. It took us a while – courts are faster, the heat, everything happens so fast, very tough to control the ball. Very, very happy with my accomplishment and I'm going for more.

“The people were going crazy on the court today and that gave me a lot of support. I was in shock, to be honest. That gave me a lot of energy… all these people suddenly appear for a 125-ranked player. It was like, ‘what was that!’ And it was very, very amazing.”

It was a good day for the qualifiers at Melbourne Park, with Serbia’s Olga Danilovic stunning No. 16 seed Petra Martic of Croatia 7-5 3-6 6-4, while Liudmila Samsonova battled back to beat Paula Badosa 6-7(4) 7-6(4) 7-5.

Juvan progressed to the second round following No. 13 seed Johanna Konta’s retirement with an abdominal injury while leading 6-4 0-2 – the only retirement in the first round of the women’s draw.

But the first round proved the end of the road in Melbourne for Great Britain’s Francesca Jones, beaten 6-4 6-1 by two-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Shelby Rogers, while France’s former junior world No. 1 Clara Burel went down to Alison Van Uytvanck 4-6 6-3 6-4.

Reigning Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin was made to work for her place in the second round, edging past Australian wild-card Maddison Inglis 7-5 6-4.

“Obviously some nerves coming in, I'm sure everyone saw that,” Kenin said on her return to Rod Laver Arena. “But, yeah, it's obviously nice to get the win. I obviously love the court, have great memories. It was a little bit emotional.”

Last year’s finalist Garbine Muguruza found the going a little easier against Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan, easing past the Lucky Loser 6-4 6-0, while former semi-finalist Elise Mertens beat 2019 junior finalist Leylah Fernandez of Canada 6-1 6-3.

There was better news for 16-year-old Coco Gauff, who defeated Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann 6-3 6-2, while Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska, the shock semi-finalist at Roland Garros in September, won on her main-draw debut in Melbourne, beating Christina McHale 6-4 6-4.