Sabalenka and Alcaraz advance on record day at Australian Open
Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz advanced in straight sets on a record day at the Australian Open 2026. Venus Williams, 45, set an age milestone, while upsets saw Marta Kostyuk and Ekaterina Alexandrova exit early. Attendance reached 100,763 at Melbourne Park
Melbourne: Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz fulfilled expectations on opening night of the Australian Open, the No 1 seeds advancing in straight sets in a Sunday session that began with tennis royalty Rod Laver and Roger Federer in the crowd. Rod Laver Arena was packed for their first-round matches, capping a day when a record total of 100,763 fans attended at Melbourne Park.
The 45-year-old Venus Williams set a record too, becoming the oldest player ever in the women’s singles draw at the Australian Open. On John Cain Arena, the so-called People’s Court because it is open to fans with ground passes, Williams was up two service breaks at 4-0 in the third set before Olga Danilovic rallied to win six straight games in a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 victory.
The seven-time major winner, playing on a wild card in just her second major since returning to the tour last year, plans to continue in doubles. “I’m really proud of my effort today because I’m playing better with each match, getting to the places that I want to get to,” she said. “Right now I’m just going to have to keep going forward and working on myself.”
Sabalenka fended off left-handed wild card Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah 6-4, 6-1 after dropping the opening service game. “I didn’t start my best. She showed up. Fired on. She was playing great,” said Sabalenka, who won the Australian title in 2023 and 2024 and was runner-up last year. “It was a tricky start.”
Sabalenka prepared for the first major of the season with a title in Brisbane but admitted she was more nervous than usual because Laver and 20-time major winner Federer were watching. “I’m a huge fan. I wanted to show great tennis so you guys enjoyed watching me play,” she said. “There was definitely a lot of pressure. I was walking, thinking ‘don’t look there, don’t look there!’”
Her next round is against Chinese qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan, who outlasted 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10) in a 2-hour, 43-minute match. No 28 Emma Raducanu, who could potentially meet Sabalenka in the third round, beat Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-4, 6-1.
Day 1 of a scheduled 15 closed with Alcaraz winning 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-2 over Adam Walton, beginning his bid to set a record as the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam.
Zverev advances
Alexander Zverev, runner-up here last year to Jannik Sinner, shrugged off a sluggish start to beat Gabriel Diallo 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round at Melbourne Park for the 10th straight year. “Definitely, when I saw the draw, wasn’t too happy to be honest,” Zverev said of the tricky challenge presented by No 41-ranked Diallo. “He’s very young, very talented. Unbelievably aggressive.”
No 10 Alexander Bublik advanced over Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, No 29 Frances Tiafoe overpowered Jason Kubler 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2 and Michael Zheng fended off Sebastian Korda 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (0), 6-3 in an all-American first-rounder.
Zheng, a college star at Columbia who advanced through qualifying to make his tour-level debut, will next face No 32 Corentin Moutet, who was booed after his underarm serve on match point in a 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3 win over Tristan Schoolkate.
Upsets and ballkids
Two of the women’s seeds went out in the opening afternoon, with Elsa Jacquemot ousting No 20 Marta Kostyuk 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) and Turkish qualifier Zeynep Sönmez upsetting No 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Sönmez halted her match briefly in the second set to help a ballkid who appeared to be struggling in the heat before the medical team took over. Seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini, No 12 Elina Svitolina and Maria Sakkari all advanced in straight sets.
Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova withdrew because of a shoulder injury before her scheduled first-round match, giving a place in the main draw to Taylor Townsend, the lucky loser from qualifying, to take on Hailey Baptiste. In a 2½-hour all-American contest on Court 13, Baptiste prevailed 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3.
Monday matches
Coco Gauff will open play Monday on Rod Laver Arena against Kamilla Rakhimova. Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic have night matches.
