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The extra day added to the fortnight in Australia to make it a “quinzaine” means a limited schedule of play on Sunday.

Just 16 matches – 25 per cent of the 64 total first-round matches – will be played on this first day.

If memory serves from a year ago, it was wall-to-wall people. Unbreathable. And it was even worse this year, with 15,000 more peopl going through the gates.

In that, two Canadians kickstarted the Canuckian contingent, with Gabriel Diallo in tough against No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev – but getting the opportunity to play on Rod Laver Arena. He was good – for a sete.

And qualifier Liam Draxl got to make his Grand Slam main draw debut, but was suffering with a stomach bug.

’26 AO – Day 1 Men’s results

(Melbourne is 16 hours ahead of ET)

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Australian Open
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Category: Grand Slam
Dates: Jan. 18 – Feb. 1, 2026
Prize money: $111,500,000 (AUD)
Draws: S128 – D64

Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026
Final results
Women’s singles, first round

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Upsets

[Q] Zeynep SONMEZ (TUR) def [11] Ekaterina ALEXANDROVA (RUS) 75 46 64

Elena-Gabriela RUSE (ROU) def [26] Dayana YASTREMSKA (UKR) 64 75 

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Extra time

Elsa JACQUEMOT (FRA) def [20] Marta KOSTYUK (UKR) 67 (4) 76 (4) 76 [10-7]  

[Q] BAI, Zhuoxuan (CHN) def Anastasia PAVLYUCHENKOVA (RUS) 64 26 76 [12-10] 

_

Seeds getting through

[1] Aryna SABALENKA (BLR) def [WC] Tiantsoa RAKOTOMANGA RAJAONAH (FRA) 64 61 

[7] Jasmine PAOLINI (ITA) def [Q] Aliaksandra SASNOVICH (BLR) 61 62

[12] Elina SVITOLINA (UKR) def. Cristina BUCSA (ESP) 64 61

[28] Emma RADUCANU (GBR) def. Mananchaya SAWANGKAEW (THA) 64 61 

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Other results (in alphabetical order)

Hailey BAPTISTE (USA) def [32] Marketa VONDROUSOVA (CZE) [LL] Taylor TOWNSEND (USA) 63 67 (3) 63

Maria SAKKARI (GRE) def Léolia JEANJEAN (FRA) 64 62

[WC] Talia GIBSON (AUS) def Anna BLINKOVA (RUS) 61 63

Polina KUDERMETOVA (RUS) def [Q] Guiomar MARISTANY ZULETA DE REALES (ESP) 62 63 

Caty McNALLY (USA) def [Q] Himeno SAKATSUME (JPN) 63 61 

Anastasia POTAPOVA (AUT) def Suzan Lamens (NED) 36 75 62 

Yulia PUTINTSEVA (KAZ) def Beatriz HADDAD MAIA (BRA) 36 75 63 

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ATP Tour – Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026 final results

WTA Tour – Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026 final results

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