Australian Open 2026 LIVE updates: Demon takes on Tiafoe; Sabalenka, Alcaraz in title quest; Medvedev, Gauff, Zverev in action

We’ve got the players out on Kia, John Cain and ANZ Arena warming up now, and it would be remiss of me not to mention two little-known Australians playing this morning: James McCabe and Li Tu, wildcard entrants who are up against Britons Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool.

The British pair hold the No.1 ranking so … anything but a straight-sets win would represent something of a boilover. We’ll keep you updated on how the duo go.

Over the men’s side of the draw, this morning’s matches start with Learner Tien (USA, 25) versus the unseeded Nuno Borges of Portugal.

Then an unknown, Tien was a revelation at last year’s tournament, famously beating Daniil Medvedev in five sets and making it all the way through to the round of 16. If he knocks over Borges, that match-up is likely to repeat next. He picked up his first two tour-level titles in November and December last year, so is in hot form. Tien, 20, leads the head-to-head record 1-0.

Play is just about to start at Melbourne Park. Let’s look at this morning’s big match, Victoria Mboko, the Canadian 16 seed, versus Clara Tauson of Denmark (14). The two will square off from 11am at John Cain Arena.

Mboko is making her Australian Open debut, and if she wins today this would be her first grand slam round-of-16 win. Her form is strong – she reached the final of the Adelaide Open last week, losing in two sets.

Tauson, meanwhile, is making her fourth Australian Open main-draw appearance. If she wins, this will be the deepest she has ever made it into the tournament. She made the round of 16 at Roland Garros in 2024 and Wimbledon in 2025.

Last night Naomi Osaka apologised for her “disrespectful” on-court interview following her second-round victory over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, where the two had a heated exchange at the net after the match.

Cirstea appeared to have been annoyed with Osaka pumping herself up and yelling “C’mon” between first and second serves.

“I mean, I tried to play well, I think I hit a lot of unforced errors, but I tried my best. She’s a great player, I think this was her last Australian Open, so, OK, [I’m] sorry she was mad about it.”

Here’s a clip from Cirstea’s news conference where she addresses it.

“It’s been 20 years since I’ve been coming here every single January. So of course, towards the end, I got a little bit emotional. Because I knew this possibly would be the last time I’m stepping on court here,” she said.

“It’s not easy, but I do it with so much joy and passion. And nothing is forever. I think it’s important in life to also know when to stop. I look forward to life after tennis.

“The main thing is I absolutely love this sport, and I will forever be indebted to it and everything it has given me. It’s emotional, a little bit, but it’s going to be an emotional year. I’m going to try to deal with it. But it’s good emotions, it’s wonderful, because in the end you only remember the good stuff.”

It’s 10.30, so your correspondent is already thinking about food (that’s a lie, I’m not thinking about it, I’m already eating a banana yoghurt). It reminded me of this very funny and infuriating piece from Cara Waters:

The price of lunch for a family of four at the Australian Open has hit over $100, with some tennis fans opting to take a packed lunch instead to avoid the high costs.

At Grand Slam Oval, a square slice of margherita pizza is $18.90, a serve of fries is $8.80 and a beer is $15.20.

Eating lunch at a table in the shade on Monday, Tarushka Moniz and her family said four meals and one drink had set them back more than $100.

Moniz bought a souvlaki for $25, two serves of pizza (one for $23.90 and the other $18.90), a chicken satay with rice and roti for $29.50 and a soft drink for $6.50, which totalled $103.80.

The Melburnian said she had attended the Open before, but was still a shocked by the cost of food at the grand slam event.

“It’s definitely too expensive,” Moniz said. “It would be nice if they would make it a bit cheaper, but because it’s a captive audience, I think they all do it.”

Read the full piece here.

Nick Kyrgios is seemingly incapable of playing a match of competitive tennis without something strange and funny happening. Like last night, when the whole crowd started shushing…

He also generates art, like this:

Alex de Minaur flies the flag today as the sole Australian doing battle in the singles events.

But patriotic fans will have to wait until nightfall before The Demon takes the court. He is playing competitive American Frances Tiafoe on Rod Laver Arena from 7pm.

It is a match he is favourite to win, holding a 3-1 advantage over the 28-year-old Tiafoe. Come on, son, let’s get this done and make it through to the fourth round.

There are plenty of other big guns in action throughout the day.

Women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka is first up on centre court at Melbourne Park (11.30am), and should put paid to Austrian Anastasia Potapova, while the men’s top seed Carlos Alcaraz is next up on Rod Laver Arena in a clash against Frenchman Corentin Moutet. Mark this down as a win to Alcaraz.

There will also be a fascinating all-American clash between Coco Gauff and Hailey Baptiste on Margaret Court Arena that should see No.3 seed Gauff into the round of 16. This match is scheduled to start after 2pm.

Other stars stepping out today include Russian Daniil Medvedev (11.30am on Margaret Court Arena), men’s No.3 seed Alexander Zverev (after 6pm on John Cain Arena).

For fans of mixed doubles – yes, we do exist – there are plenty of homegrown heroes in action, including Cruz Hewitt and Taylah Preston (later this afternoon on 1573 Arena), while Nick Kyrgios teams up with Canadian Leylah Fernandez on ANZ Arena this evening.

We should see the first action of Friday morning courtside at 11am. Before we get to that, let’s start with a look back at some of Thursday’s most-entertaining matches.

Special K’s entertain but ultimately crash out

The “Special K” duo of Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios flaunted a slightly subdued version of their pub rock, rowdy tennis brand, but ultimately lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4-10) to fellow countrymen Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans in the men’s doubles first round.

A medical timeout during the third set proved costly for Kokkinakis – who confirmed he’d be “on ice” for a while and had texted Lleyton Hewitt to withdraw from the Davis Cup team.

“I don’t want to ever play another match feeling like that again,” he told reporters in a post-match press conference.

Read the full match report here.

Osaka apologises for ‘disrespectful’ on-court interview

Naomi Osaka has apologised for her “disrespectful” on-court interview following her second-round victory over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, where the two had a heated exchange at the net after the match.

Osaka took the tie 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

Osaka and Cirstea shook hands and went over to shake the hand of chair umpire Kelly Rask, before Cirstea exchanged words with Osaka and the Romanian left the court.

Read the full match report here.

Last Australian standing in the women’s draw

Maddison Inglis is Australia’s last hope in the women’s singles, after she booked herself a spot in the third round with a gutsy win against German world No.48 Laura Siegemund.

Siegemund managed to save two of four match points in a tense deciding set tie-break on Thursday, before an overhead, cross-court backhand winner from Inglis secured victory.

The 28-year-old, who battled for three hours and 20 minutes, collapsed on court and broke down in tears as the crowd erupted inside ANZ Arena.

Read the full match report here.

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