Australian Open 2026 LIVE updates: Countdown to Djokovic v Alcaraz continues as fans pack into Melbourne Park

Newsflash: If you want to snare a late ticket for tonight’s final - a match that will significantly shape tennis history - you can still snare one.

Your seat will be in a great spot on the lower tier at Rod Laver Arena.

But they’re going for $7999 each - or $10,000 for a slightly better vantage point.

When Elena Rybakina stepped on stage to collect her trophy on Saturday night, she thanked the usual people – her opponent, her coaching team, her sponsors and Tennis Australia.

However, she singled out a particular man in the crowd, having moments earlier reached into the stand to share her victorious moment with him after sealing her maiden Australian Open win with a 183km/h ace.

In her winner’s speech, Elena Rybakina delivers a gracious series of thank-yous, balancing her personal triumph with respect for her opponent and her supporters.

“I want to say thank you to my sponsors and also the president of our tennis federation, Bulat Utemuratov,” the softly-spoken Rybakina said during the presentation.

“Thank you for always for coming and supporting us. Today we had a few other matches with Kazakhstan players, and I’m really proud. And yeah, hopefully we can continue doing a great job.”

Utemuratov is a diplomat, industrialist and long-serving president of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation who has invested heavily in Rybakina’s tennis career.

He is worth about $US3.7 billion, according to Forbes.

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Novak Djokovic told media in the early hours of Saturday morning that he was unlikely to do any hitting until game day and he’s on court currently inside an almost empty Rod Laver Arena.

Djokovic is hitting up with a partner. This is his usual practice for this sort of end of tournament matches as he needs to get his muscles moving but also give himself the longest possible recovery time.

He looks and sounds pretty good from what I’ve seen on the internal cameras at Melbourne Park.

Highly-touted French teenager Ksenia Efremova has joined the Australian Open honour roll by overcoming Ekaterina Tupitsyna in an emotional rollercoaster of a girls’ final.

Tears flowed on both sides of the net as third seed Efremova held her nerve against gallant Russian Tupitsyna, winning 6-3 7-5 at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.

Tupitsyna broke down during the second set when a hamstring injury forced a medical time-out and halted her momentum as she mounted a fightback.

The 17-year-old led the second set 3-0, but won just two of the next nine games after returning to the court with her left thigh strapped.

Efremova showcased her maturity in steadying to become just the second French winner of the AO girls’ singles crown, after 1999 champion Virginie Razzano.

The 16-year-old joins a list of girls’ title winners that includes Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1970) and fellow former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka (2005), who both went on to claim the women’s crown on multiple occasions.

Efremova was immediately on a video call to her mother - former professional player Julia Efremova - in France as she celebrated her victory on the court.

“It’s always kind of tradition when I’m winning a tournament, every time I call her, or even semis even,” Efremova said.

“Even if she sleeps, doesn’t matter. This time it doesn’t matter. It’s exceptional.

“Sometimes she doesn’t sleep because she’s very stressed. I wanted to wake her up with the good news.”

In the boys’ final, No.7 seed Ziga Sesko became the first Slovenian to win the title with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over American Keaton Hance.

The 17-year-old fought back from a set down in a high-quality contest, played under a closed RLA roof due to rain at Melbourne Park.

“I hope we will play many more times and I hope you don’t get the revenge,” Sesko told his opponent in the trophy presentation.

Sesko will hope to join an illustrious group of former boys’ title winners - including Nick Kyrgios, Lorenzo Musetti, Alexander Zverev, Stefan Edberg and Andy Roddick - in going on to have a successful career on the men’s tour.

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For the second year in a row, K-pop fans have hovered around Ralph Lauren’s marquee from around midday – waiting for DK, vocalist at 13-member boy group SEVENTEEN.

As I was squished among them this evening, some admit they’ve waited for three hours, though it’s unclear if they bought a ground pass for a glimpse (and potentially an autograph) of their idol, or tonight’s blockbuster final.

Meanwhile, those at the Ralph Lauren marquee welcomed him with screams of broken Korean (“Dokyeom-ah, yeogiyo!” says one, meaning “Dokyeom, over here!“), signs that say “Dokyeom, wink?” in Korean, merch and SEVENTEEN (the group) albums to sign, and a DSLR camera or two. The vocalist spent no more than five minutes waving, signing, and smiling for the cameras outside the marquee, and fans were quick to disperse once he’s back inside.

The 28-year-old, real name Seok-min Lee, sports 8.3 million Instagram followers, while his group SEVENTEEN flexes twice as much: 16.3 million. Unsurprisingly, his fans were quick to document his arrival in Melbourne on Friday.

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