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Russia's Anna Blinkova progresses into 2nd round of Australian Open

The Russian tennis player will face Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas in her next match at the tournament

Anna Blinkova AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin

Anna Blinkova

© AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin

TASS, January 21. Russian tennis player Anna Blinkova has defeated Italian Jasmine Paolini and marched into the 2nd round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the tennis year.

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The Russian, 21, needed one hour and 41 minutes to grab the victory 7-5, 6-4. Blinkova will face Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas in her next match at the tournament.

Blinkova is currently 58th in the WTA rankings, her best Grand Slam performance to date is the third round of the French Open in 2019.

The Australian Open offers a prize pot of $49.1 million and is taking place in Melbourne from January 20 to February 2. Japan’s Naomi Osaka is the defending champion.

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