Tennis News Round-Up - January 2026

The first Grand Slam of the year took place in Melbourne, with two new champions crowned in Australia.

Alcaraz completes historic Career Grand Slam

The first week of the men’s tournament was largely upset free, with all of the top 10 seeds reaching the second week, except from Felix Auger-Aliassime. Defending champion Jannik Sinner survived cramp to escape in four sets against Eliot Spizzirri. Lorenzo Musetti beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets, and then was two sets up against Novak Djokovic in the Quarter Finals, before injury struck and he had to retire.

Sinner beat Ben Shelton with ease to set up a Semi Final meeting with Djokovic. Alex Zverev overcame Learner Tien in his Quarter Final, and would meet Carlos Alcaraz after the Spaniard beat home favourite Alex de Minaur.

A tournament that had been fairly stale on the men’s side suddenly came to life in the Semi Finals, with two five set epics taking place. Alcaraz took a two set lead, but Zverev came back to level the match with the Spaniard cramping. Zverev served for the match, but Alcaraz survived and sealed the win with a break in a marathon lasting over 5 hours.

Then came Sinner vs Djokovic, a matchup not won by the Serb since 2023, but the 38-year-old produced a stunning performance to take out Sinner in five sets, and reach an 11th Final in Melbourne. With history on the line for both, Djokovic started better than Alcaraz, taking the opening set. But Alcaraz fought back, and sealed victory in four sets to claim his first Australian Open title. It completes the Career Grand Slam, and makes him the youngest man ever to achieve this.

Rybakina lifts second Grand Slam title

Like the men, the top women’s seeds avoided early upsets in Melbourne. 18-year-old Iva Jovic took out Jasmine Paolini and beat Yulia Putintseva to reach a maiden Grand Slam Quarter Final. She was beaten there by two-time champion and top seed Aryna Sabalenka. Elina Svitolina beat Mirra Andreeva and Coco Gauff in convincing fashion to reach the Semi Finals, where Sabalenka got the win to reach her fourth consecutive Final here. 

Defending champion Madison Keys was knocked out by fellow American Jessica Pegula in the Fourth Round. Pegula then beat another American in Amanda Anisimova to reach the Semi Finals, where she would meet Elena Rybakina. The Kazakh ended 2025 strongly by winning the WTA Finals, and kept this strong form going by beating Iga Swiatek in straight sets. Rybakina got the better of Pegula, and then beat Sabalenka in a three set battle to win her second Grand Slam title, and her first since winning Wimbledon in 2022.

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