Australian Open 2026 as it happened: De Minaur’s heart-warming moment on RLA after brilliant victory; Kyrgios reaches the next round

As predicted, Aryna Sabalenka is flexing her muscle in the second set.

The No.1 women’s seed is up 4-1 in the second set on Rod Laver Arena.

But on Margaret Court Arena, three-time men’s finalist Daniil Medvedev is having a much tougher time.

He lost the first set in a tie-breaker and now trails Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 4-1 in the second set. Could an upset be on the cards for Medvedev, the No.11 seed this year? We’ll keep our eyes on it.

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka has taken the first set in her third-round showdown with Anastasia Potopova of Austria, 7-6, and has already broken her opponent in the first game of the second set. Saba has a reputation for stretching out first sets and then steamrollering opponents in the second, so watch out...

Meanwhile, Learner Tien is in a commanding position against Nuno Borges on KIA Arena, 7-6, 6-4, while Victoria Mboko continues an entertaining and well-matched duel against Clara Tauson, 7-6, 5-6.

Well, that was fun. Aussie Li Tu looks to be having a blast on ANZ Arena, where he and doubles partner James McCabe have taken the first set 7-6 in 48 minutes against their British opponents - who are ranked #1 in the world.

Li is playing to the crowd, pumping them up, cocking an ear at the cheers. He’s having fun and playing well. Of course, as Alex De Minaur said earlier this week, beating a top-10 opponent means playing multiple good sets, not just one...

Around the grounds, Tien is locked in a tiebreak with Borges for the first set, while Mboko took the first set in a tiebreaker against Tauson.

OK, the day is warming up now, we have 10 matches underway. Let’s go around the grounds.

First, to the two Australians in the mixed doubles, McCabe and Tu. They just had to dig deep to defend a break-point – and they did. That’s now at 5-5 in the first set with the Aussies serving, and playing well against their much more fancied opponents.

Tien and Borges are locked at 5-5 and look well-matched, while on John Cain Arena Tauson has taken a game back from Mboko and looks to be settling into the match. They are at 5-5 as well.

On Margaret Court Arena, Daniil Medvedev (11) has just taken the first game of the match, immediately breaking his opponent Fabian Marozsan of Hungary.

Victoria Mboko, the Canadian 16 seed, has taken an early game off Clara Tauson. The Dane seems to be struggling with her serve. The match sits at 3-2 with Mboko to serve.

Learner Tien and Nuno Borges look well-matched, 3-3. Tien just missed what would have been a sensational through-the-legs shot, and looks sharp in all-white with orange hat and socks.

Meanwhile, our Australians are holding their own in the doubles, 3-3, against their much-higher-rated opponents.

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.

Click here to read article