AO Day 1: Upsets galore as Aus Open welcomes record crowd to the main draw

• LISTEN LIVE TO THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN ON SEN
• World No.1s Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka are set to take the stage at Rod Laver Arena tonight.
• Aussie Qualifer Jason Kubler will face off against America's Frances Tiafoe on John Cain Arena
• It's an Australian fest at Kia Arena with Wildcard Talia Gibson and Tristan Schoolkate opening the day's play on the show court.
• Gibson claimed the first main draw win of the tournament

After all the hype of Opening week, the main draw of the 2026 Australian Open is officially underway.

The crowds are already lining up in their droves around the arenas with plenty of exciting match-ups ahead.

Make sure to follow the action with SEN with our live coverage beginning from 12pm AEDT.

8:42pm - Rod and Rog enjoying Day 1

The two legends were enjoying one another's company as Aryna Sabalenka claimed victory.

And that brings a close to our live blog for Day 1.

Make sure to join us tomorrow as the first round action continues on Day 2.

8:30pm - The World No.1 wins in straight sets

After a competitive first set from Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, Aryna Sabalenka has looked far more convincing in the second with a 6-4, 6-1 win in the First Round.

The Belurusian was far too good with her ability to win points off her first serve proving too good in the end.

And if her previous performances are any indicator for what 2026 has install, she will likely progress into the Third Round having never lost a Second Round match here at Melbourne Park.

8:05pm - Sabalenka starts her AO with first set win

With the night session well and truly underway, Aryna Sabalenka has got off to a strong start as she wins her opening set of the tournament against Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah.

It has not come easy for the Belarusian, who had her first game broken by the French Wildcard.

But she quickly returned the favour in the next one, which saw the game stay on serve until the World No.1 claimed her second break of the set.

Sabalenka has made the final here at Melbourne Park in the last three editions of the tournament.

And following her Brisbane International win, she is primed to make it four finals in a row at the Australian Open.

7:45pm - Ballkid given help following collapse

Earlier in the day, during the No. 11 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez, there was a health scare from one of the ballkids.

The game would briefly stop when Sonmez noticed that one of the net kids was having issues standing straight, appearing to be affected by the heat on the court.

Following that, she would be taken into the shade by tournament officials to help give some respite.

Photo Credit: Stan Sports

7:30pm - Kubler bundled out in straight sets

And now a second Australian male player has had their AO finish up on Day 1.

Jason Kubler has been defeated by Frances Tiafoe 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 on John Cain Arena.

He showed plenty of fight in the first set and managed to get a break in the second.

But after Tiafoe broke his serve in the next game, it went downhill fast, and the No. 29 seed got the job done.

The American now has Francisco Comesana in the Second Round before a potential match against Alex de Minaur in the Third Round.

7:04pm - Don't pull the cord on Korda's winning chances

He was two sets down against qualifier Michael Zheng, but American Sebastian Korda might just find a way to come back to win his first round match.

His fellow American managed to pull through 6-4, 6-4.

But the former AO quarter finalist from 2023 has come back swinging as he won the third 6-3 before blitzing Zheng in the fourth set tie break, having managed win all seven points.

After taking a medical timeout, he now leads 2-1 in the fifth and deciding set.

6:45pm - Lindstedt: Kubler knew that was the moment to pull away

After getting the first break of the match to go 2-1 in the second set, Jason Kubler proceeded to hand it straight back to Frances Tiafoe with two double faults.

And now the American has proceeded to get on a roll to win the next four games as he now takes a 5-2 lead in the set.

Speaking on SEN's commentary of the Australian Open, 2014 AO Men's Doubles champion Robert Lindstedt felt that Kubler needed to be better on his serve.

Lindstedt: "That's two double faults from Kubler."

"It's not a good game by him. That's a letdown."

"That's a pressure situation. He lets the scoreboard pressure get to him."

"He knows that he's a break-up and he knows that this is the moment he needs to pull away from Frances Tiafoe."

"They are just a lack of focus, I would say."

6:17pm - Tennis Australia confirms record breaking attendance

Tennis Australia has just confirmed that 73,235 people have been in attendance during the day session of Day 1 of the main draw.

It breaks the record attendance for a day session at the Australian Open, which was set back in 2019 (68,883).

It just goes to show that this tournament is on the up and up with interest as high as ever.

6:07pm - Tiafoe pulls away in first set

And the No. 29 seed gets it done in the tiebreak.

The American's power hitting was on display throughout, which sees him claim it 7-4.

It might just be the catalyst to get him going in this match.

6pm - No. 11 seed knocked out

We've had a couple of seeded players get knocked out today, but we might have just had the biggest so far out on 1573 Arena.

The No. 11 seed in Ekaterina Alexandrova has fallen short against Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

This loss now marks the third time in a row that the Russian has been knocked out in the first round of an Australian Open (the fourth in five editions).

5:51pm - Kubler holding his own against Tiafoe

The third Aussie to play today is now out on the court.

Qualifier Jason Kubler is now out on John Cain Arena up against American and No. 29 seed Frances Tiafoe.

And the 32-year-old is doing well in the first set. It's been largely even between the two, but the Australian has managed to create the only two break points for the match.

However, he was not able to convert them, which sees them tied 5-5.

4:53pm - Kostyuk gets knocked out

A thrilling 83-minute third set, which went to a 10-point tie break, has come to its conclusion with France's Elsa Jacquemot defeating Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk.

The loss is somewhat surprising considering that the No. 20 seed has made it all the way to the Brisbane International Final just a couple of weeks ago.

The Ukrainian did need a medical timeout in the previous game prior to the tie break for a rolled ankle, which would have likely impacted her mobility.

The Frenchwoman (ranked 58 in the world) took a 5-1 lead, which Kostyuk came back from.

But ultimately, after three and a half hours, the 2024 AO Quarter Finalist was unable to get across the line.

It's the second-seeded player on ANZ Arena to see their AO end on the first day, and the third-seeded player.

4:36pm - Another seed on the verge of being knocked out

Could we see another seeded player knocked out on Day 1?

Ukraine's Marta Kostuk (No. 20 seed) is currently in the midst of an absolute battle with France's Elsa Jacquemot.

The match is now in its third and deciding set, with both players having managed to win a set tiebreak each.

And the third set has now reached a 10-point match tiebreak with Kostyuk holding serve in the 12th game.

She almost looked out of it at 5-6 as she rolled her ankle pretty badly.

As a result, she has taken a medical timeout to get the ankle strapped, which has certainly helped.

4:25pm - Zverev continues impressive streak

After losing his opening set, Alexander Zverev has recovered and has progressed into the Second Round following his victory over Canada's Gabriel Diallo.

After only winning one point in the first set tiebreak, the German responded convincingly on Rod Laver Arena, going on to win the next three sets.

It now means for the 10th Australian Open in a row, the No. 3 seed has progressed beyond the First Round stage at Melbourne Park.

4pm - We have our first five set result

We've had our first five-setter today with Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry pulling through to make the second round.

Playing against Miomir Kecmanovic, Etcheverry came back after losing the second and third sets to win out on 1573 Arena.

With that result, it now means we have our first Second Round match-up with the Argentine set to take on qualifier Arthur Fery following his victory over the No.20 seed Flavio Cobolli.

3:35pm - Woodbridge criticises Schoolkate's performance

Having lost in straight sets, Tristan Schoolkate becomes the first Australian to be knocked out of the main draw of the Australian Open.

The Western Australian was defeated by the 32nd seed Corentin Moutet 6-4, 7-6, 6-3.

This was despite Moutet requiring a medical timeout towards the end of the game.

And Todd Woodbridge was not impressed by the 24-year-old's performance.

Woodbridge: "He's playing to lose."

"He shouldn't be in this position. Take this match-up."

"At the moment, he is stuck for what to do."

"Dare I say it, he is choking at the wrong side of this match."

2:48pm - Zverev fires back

What a response from the No. 3 seed in Alexander Zverev!

After losing the first set against Canada's Gabriel Diallo 7-6, the German has put the blinkers on and proceeded to win the next five games.

He's now claimed the second set 6-1 in just over 30 minutes.

Can he get it done in four, or will it go the distance?

1:50pm - Several seeds knocked out following first round

Following Aussie Talia Gibson's big win against World No. 64 Anna Blinkova, there have been a few more shock results with some seeded players having had their AO campaign finish just after one day.

On the Women's side, World No. 26 Dayana Yastremska was defeated in straight sets by Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse (6-4, 7-5)

And in the men's, British qualifier Arthur Fery has shocked World No. 20 Flavio Cobolli at John Cain Arena.

After a tight first set, which went to a tiebreak, the Brit would prevail which saw him claim a straight sets.

1:09pm - Tiley confirms ground pass sell out

The Aus Open's popularity has certainly been ever-present today, with there being massive queues at both the Garden Square and Grand Slam Oval ticket gates despite them being opened for several hours.

Already, Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley has told the media that they have paused the selling of day ground passes for today, which goes to show how much demand there is at the moment for tickets.

“We’ve had to pause them because obviously we want people to come on site and have a great time,” he said.

“There’s still the After 5 ground passes available, which is $49, come on-site for that.

There have been 217,999 people through the gates for the Opening Week.

12:45pm - Demon learns of his new opponent

Alex de Minaur will have a new opponent for his first-round match.

After being drawn against former AO semifinalist Matteo Berrettini, the Italian would rule himself out on the eve of the tournament, citing issues with his abdomen.

On Instagram, he would confirm the unfortunate news.

“Unfortunately I’ve felt discomfort in my obliques once again and I won’t be ready to perform at my best level for five sets,” he wrote.

“It hurts because playing in Australia is always special and after four weeks of intense training I was excited and ready to get going.”

“I’m hoping and feeling that I won’t be out from the tennis courts for a long time.”

It's somewhat of a lucky break for the Australian who did have a losing record against the former World No.6.

Instead, the current World No. 6 faces American Mackenzie McDonald with the Australian having won their previous two encounters.

12:30pm - Gibson progresses

And we have our first Aussie through.

Talia Gibson has made the second round after a clinical 6-1, 6-3 over Anna Blinkova in the space of 76 minutes.

It's now the second time that she has progressed to the second round here at Melbourne Park after doing so last year.

She will either play two-time Grand Slam winner Barbora Krejčíková or the No. 23 seed Diana Shnaider.

12:05pm - Talia Gibson nears first-round win

Out on Kia Arena (Showcourt Arena), 21-year-old Western Australian Talia Gibson is nearing an entry into the second round.

Having been given a wildcard spot into the main draw, she is certainly making the most of it having claimed the first set (6-1) in the first set against World No.62 Anna Blinkova.

Despite having more unforced errors than her opponent, Gibson has been far more clinical on her first serve compared to her opponent, which has gone a long way to her seven break points won.

She finds herself leading the second set 4-1.

12pm - Welcome

A warm welcome to wherever you find us on this perfect Sunday afternoon here at Melbourne Park.

The action has already gotten underway on both the outside and arena courts, with potential upsets already brewing in the first hour.