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DAY 9 RECAP

And there was one.

With Australian qualifier Maddison Inglis having her AO campaign ended by World No. 2 Iga Swiatek in straight sets (6-0, 6-3), Alex de Minaur is now the only Australian left in the main draw of either the women's or men's singles of the 2026 Australian Open.

Swiatek wasn't the only highest-ranked seed to deliver a dominant performance to book their spot in the last eight at Melbourne Park.

Her quarter-final opponent, Elena Rybakina, alongside Americans Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula, all won in straight sets.

While in the men's, the Italian pair of Lorenzo Musetti and Jannik Sinner both managed comfortable victories as temperatures rose throughout the day.

Elsewhere, tournament organisers have postponed the start of the AO Wheelchair Championships by 24 hours, with Melbourne set to reach an expected high of 45 degrees on Tuesday (Day 10).

See all the biggest moments from the day below.

9:54pm AO postpones matches for Day 10

To help combat the heat with a predicted high of 45 degrees for Tuesday, Tennis Australia will be making changes to its Day 10 schedule.

The predicted high has forced tournament organisers to place a pause on the AO Wheelchair Championships, which were set to begin on Tuesday.

Ground pass holders will also be able to access the roofed Margaret Court Arena to get out of the heat if needed.

While action on courts such as Margaret Court Arena will begin earlier than usual, Rod Laver Arena will still begin its matches at the regular time of 11:30am.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will begin the action on the centre court against 18-year-old American Iva Jovic for the first of the women's singles quarter finals.

The tournament organiser will also be keeping an eye on their Heat Stress Scale measurement.

The scale (1-5) measures air temperature, radiant heat, humidity and wind speed and will help determine how much assistance is needed for players and personnel out on court to help deal with the heat.

It is only if the scale reaches a 5.0 for men's and women's matches and 4.9 for juniors on outside courts that play is suspended.

If the scale reaches 5.0 on an arena court, play would continue until an even number of games before taking a break to close the roof.

See the full scale below.

10:32pm Anybody's match on Rod Laver

And we're back to a set apiece at Rod Laver Arena.

After losing the first set 6-3, Ben Shelton has responded by winning the second set 6-4.

He did so in the final game of the set, with Casper Ruud handing the break and set on a silver platter with a run of mistakes.

The third set is proving to be a tight affair at 3-3 with both players well and truly in it.

A break in the next couple of games to either Shelton or Ruud could really swing the match in their favour.

8:53pm Darderi exits in straight sets

Luciano Darderi certainly did have the best time against Jannik Sinner out on Margaret Court Arena.

The back-to-back champion defeated his fellow Italian 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) to go through to the final eight of the Open.

The No. 22 seed certainly had his struggles despite getting better as the match progressed.

But he certainly had his moments of frustration as seen in the second set, having chucked his racquet after losing a break point.

Image credit: @sinnervideos on X

Sinner will now go on to play either American Ben Shelton or Norway's Casper Ruud in the quarter finals.

That is currently being played on Rod Laver Arena, which is in its opening game.

9:30pm Is Shelton about to have a Ruud awakening?

The No. 12 seed Casper Ruud has started out life well on Rod Laver Arena.

The Norwegian has just taken the first set against No. 8 seed Ben Shelton 6-3.

It looked like it was going to be a rather long opening set after the first game of the match went for seven minutes.

But after that, the match picked up in pace with both players having some quick service games.

The moment would come for Ruud in the fourth game, where he created a break point, which was subsequently handed to him by the big-hitting American with a double fault.

The three-time Grand Slam finalist has already entered uncharted territory by making the fourth round this year.

Could he continue his strong start to 2026 with a quarter-final appearance?

8:43pm Inglis falls short

While it was a result we all saw coming, Maddison Inglis would have left many proud with her 2026 AO campaign.

She lost her fourth round match against World No. 2 Iga Swiatek 6-0, 6-3.

There is now only one Australian left across either the men's or women's draw.

8:24pm World No.2 just a game away from victory

The qualifier did well to generate a break point chance, which would have seen her have the chance to tie the set on her next service game.

But the Pole's forehand has once again got her out of trouble by either winning the point off of it or forcing an error out of her opponent.

Swiatek's winners total has now reached 20.

She's now a game away from a quarter-final spot.

8:15pm Inglis hold serve

It's a match first for Maddison Inglis, but she'll be glad that she has done it.

After being broken in all five of her service games so far, she finally holds in her sixth to keep the single break in the set to go 4-2.

It might be the game she needed to regain some confidence.

8:12pm Swiatek on the verge of final eight spot

The end is nigh for Maddison Inglis' run at the AO.

Iga Swiatek is proving too strong on her serve for Inglis to compete.

And with the World No. 2 having won all her receiving games so far, it has accelerated the result quickly with it now being 4-1 in the second set.

Despite this result, this takes nothing away from how Inglis has played during qualifying and in the main draw for what is a career-best performance.

8:01pm Swiatek strikes back

And just after Inglis breaks, Iga Swiatek has equalled with a break of her own.

Three forced forehand errors in a row have seen the qualifier go from 40-30 up to lose the second game of the second set.

The Western Australian is yet to hold on serve in this match, which could prove costly.

7:54pm Inglis responds

What a way to respond after being bagelled by Maddison Inglis!

She breaks the serve of Iga Swiatek, and you can see how much it means having raised her arms to the crowd.

She was within a whisker of doing it with the game at 15-40 with the ball just missing the tram line.

But she held her nerve and benefited from the World No. 2 making an unforced error to lead in the second.

7:47pm Swiatek takes the opening set

This match is getting away from Maddison Inglis quickly.

She has lost the first set in the space of 32 minutes, having been unable to win a game off the World No. 2.

The qualifier is certainly doing her best. But when your opponent hits 11 winners, it's always going to be tough.

But while she has lost the first set, SEN Tennis' Candy Reid has noted that Inglis isn't panicking yet.

Reid: "She hasn't panicked, that's important."

7:38pm Swiatek continues her dominance

Maddison Inglis had her chances, but just couldn't convert her opportunities when presented.

She put Swiatek under pressure for a couple of points, which saw multiple deuce chances.

But with the World No. 2's second advantage in the game, Inglis puts a forehand into the net to give the break through an unforced error.

7:31pm Swiatek goes three from three

The World No. 2 was tested a bit more but still pulled through to win the game.

Inglis got the game to deuce for a chance to break.

But with a forehand that went too long from Inglis and a backhand winner from Swiatek, she goes 3-love up.

7:22pm Not the best start for Inglis

On her first service game, the Western Australian has been broken.

Maddison Inglis started off well in the game, having gone point for point in the first four.

But the World No. 2 Iga Swiatek is showing this Melbourne crowd why she is so good.

7:13pm Maddison Inglis begins her match against Iga Swiatek

Can the Aussie qualifier join the likes of fellow Australian women Ash Barty, Jelena Dokic and Alicia Molik to make an AO quarter final?

Were about to find out here at Rod Laver Arena.

7:07pm Darderi takes out his frustrations

27 minutes is all it took for Sinner to go one set up in his match against fellow Italian Luciano Darderi.

The No. 2 seed won all but one of his first serve points which saw him cruise to hold all his service games.

And the back-to-back AO Champion is not relenting with another break of service to lead 4-2 in the second.

And the No. 22 seed has made his frustrations known as he takes it out on his racquet and smashed a ball into the Margaret Court Arena crowd.

Image credit: @sinnervideos on X

6:45pm That's got to hurt

Laura Siegemund won't be getting up close to the net in the short term after copping a ball to the face from Lativa's Jelena Ostapenko,

The former Roland Garros singles champion crunched a backhand at the net which has hit Siegemund flush which saw her hit the floor.

All appeared to be well with Ostapenko putting her hand up to apologise after it happened and the German continuing the remainder of the match with her playing partner Sophia Kenin.

The incident had little effect on the match as it concluded the following game with Ostapenko making the quarter finals with Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh having won 6-3, 6-2.

6:23pm Kyrgios' AO comes to an end

Any hopes that Nick Kyrgios could win a doubles title at this year's Australian Open have come to an end.

After being knocked out in the first round of the men's doubles with good mate Thanasi Kokkinakis, the Canberran has also been eliminated from the mixed doubles.

Alongside his playing partner, Leylah Fernandez, the pair went down 6-3, 6-1 to Anna Danilina and JJ Tracy in the second round on John Cain Arena.

6:14pm Sinner takes to the court

In a match-up that would make Richie Benaud proud, the No. 2 seed Jannik Sinner is versing the No. 22 seed Luciano Darderi.

Having played all his matches so far on Rod Laver Arena, the four-time Grand Slam champion is on Margaret Court Arena today.

6:00pm Rybakina eases past Mertens

2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina has cruised into a quarter-final spot at the Australian Open with a comprehensive win over No. 21 seed Elise Mertens.

The Kazakhstani made light work of her opponent, having won 6-1, 6-3, with nearly half of her serves being unreturned during the match.

That dominance was also extended to her ground strokes, with 32 winners compared to Mertens' 14.

The No. 5 seed will find out later tonight if she plays World No. 2 Iga Swiatek or Aussie qualifier Maddison Inglis.

5:15pm Day 10 schedule partially released

The Day 10 match schedule for Rod Laver Arena has officially been confirmed.

And it means Alex de Minaur's quarter-final clash against World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz will be saved until last.

Having opened the night session on centre court in his three previous night matches at the AO this year, the World No. 6's bid for a maiden grand slam semi-final will begin after the women's singles quarter-final between No. 3 seed Coco Gauff and No. 12 Elina Svitolina.

During the day session, the women's World No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka, plays 18-year-old American Iva Jovic for a spot in the last four.

After that, the No. 3 seed on the men's side, Alexander Zverev, takes on American Learner Tien.

4:26pm Musetti in straight set(s)-ti

While it wasn't quite the five-setter they played in Wimbledon in 2024, Lorenzo Musetti has progressed into the quarters at Melbourne Park, having defeated American Taylor Fritz.

He does in straight sets (6-2, 7-5, 6-4).

While Fritz has been carrying a knee injury coming into the tournament, the Italian No. 5 seed had solid form from the baseline, which went a long way to his victory.

He now has the unenviable task of trying to defeat Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals at the Australian Open.

No one has been able to do that since 2014.

4:13pm Aussie wildcards into the last eight

Kim Birrell and Talia Gibson cannot believe what they have achieved.

They are now AO women's doubles quarter finalists after beating France's Kristina Mladenovic and China's Hanyu Guo in three sets (3-6, 6-4, 6-2).

After getting out to a slow start, which saw them lose the first set, the wildcard pairing came roaring back to claim the win.

Their pace on serve also became harder and harder for the No. 16 seeds to deal with the Australian pair winning 69% of the first serve points compared to their opponents with 55%.

They now play Japan's Ena Shibahara and Russian Vera Zvonareva, who have already beaten the No. 6 and 10 seeds in their run.

It was a longer match than usual with Guo requiring several medical timeouts during the second set.

3:52pm Anisimova moves into last eight

Amanda Anisimova has held her own out on John Cain Arena to make her first AO quarter final against China's Xinyu Wang 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.

Wang was better when the rallies progressed beyond four shots. But it has rarely gotten to that stage with Anisimova's 26 winners dictating the match.

Having made the final at Wimbledon and the US Open last year, it's good to see the No. 4 seed continue her form into 2026.

That will now mean half of the quarter final draw will be American with at least one of them making the semi finals.

3:25pm Left field call to celebrate Djokovic's dominance

Australian Tennis legend Wendy Turnbull believes that inducting Novak Djokovic into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame may be the best way to celebrate his achievements at Melbourne Park.

Calls have come throughout the week for there to be a statue made of the Serbian great who has won 10 Australian Opens over his career.

But the three-time Grand Slam runner-up has a different solution, which could be more accepted by the general Australian public.

“Actually, it’s not a bad idea to put him into our Australian Hall of Fame, because I can’t see anyone else winning that many Australian Open titles," she told News Corp.

“So, that would be a good publicity for our Australian Tennis Hall of Fame.

“He’s an honorary Australian tennis Hall of Famer."

The 73-year-old has been making headlines throughout the first grand slam of 2026.

Earlier, she criticised host broadcaster Channel 9 over their promotion of Australia's highest-ranked female, Maya Joint.

It's certainly an interesting idea.

Although I reckon planting a Brazilian fig tree, which he describes as "his oldest friend in Melbourne", in the surrounds of Melbourne Park might be a more fitting tribute.

2:51pm Fritz down a set

Taylor Fritz has dropped his opening set against Lorenzo Musetti on Rod Laver Arena.

He's looking somewhat restricted in his movement out on court, with the likely culprit being his knee tendonitis, which he had coming into the tournament.

2:29pm Aussie wildcards starting to recover

After going down in the first set 6-3, Aussies Kim Birrell and Talia Gibson look set to push their third round women's doubles match to a third set.

Against the No. 16-seeded pair of China's Hanyu Guo and France's Kristina Mladenovic, the wildcards have gone to another gear.

They have won all of their first serve points bar one in this set to be ahead 4-0 on Margaret Court Arena.

2:20pm Woodforde: Alex (de Minaur) was just brilliant

On SEN Tennis, Mark Woodforde has given his thoughs on Alex de Minaur's comprehensive win over No. 10 seed Alexander Bublik on Sunday night.

Speaking just before the match between No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz and No. 5 seed Lorenzo Musetti, the 17-time Grand Slam doubles champion was seriously impressed by how de Minaur put it all together.

Woodforde: "He's aware of some of the chatter behind that Bublik was the type of player that can take the racquet out of his hands."

"Alex was just brilliant last night. Head down, all the way. Super professional and he's now into another Grand Slam quarter final."

1:24pm Kubler/Polmans continue insane run

Aussies Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans are now the sole Australians left in the men's doubles draw after defeating fellow Australians Li Tu and James McCabe.

The two wildcard pairings meet on Margaret Court Arena for their third round clash.

And in 88 minutes, Kubler/Polmans won 6-4, 6-4 with their serve and volley game on point.

Kubler has previously won the men's doubles before with fellow Aussie Rinky Hijikata in 2023.

1:03pm Keys set to eat humble pie

And Jess Pegula books her spot in the quarter finals.

She has beaten her fellow countrywoman and 2025 AO champion Madison Keys in straight sets (6-3, 6-4).

Keys had six double faults for the match, compared to Pegula having just one. She also wasn't able to make the most of her break point chances, with the No. 9 seed winning 33% of them compared to Pegula's 80%.

That also means Keys will have to do the punishment of eating Pegula's favourite snack - cheese on apple pie - as set on The Player's Box podcast that the two co-host.

This is now the fourth time that the No. 6 seed has made an AO quarter final.

But in her three previous attempts, she has been unable to break through into the final four.

Will 2026 be different for the American?

12:56pm Reigning champ on the ropes

Madison Keys' hopes of becoming a back-to-back Australian Open champion are slowly fading on Rod Laver Arena.

Against No. 6 seed and fellow American Jessica Pegula, the 2025 champ finds herself a set down.

She's also been broken in the second, which sees Pegula lead 5-3.

12pm Lleyton slams ITF for "horror" decisions

Lleyton Hewitt has weighed into the technology saga overshadowing the Australian Open slamming the ITF for its nonsensical decision making.

There were bizarre scenes during Alcaraz's clash with Tommy Paul on Sunday when chair umpire Marija Cicak noticed something under the Spaniard's wrist band.

A short conversation between the two turned out to be a directive from the official for the world No 1 to remove his fitness tracking Whoop band.

The technology, which stores data from physical activity - is banned at the Open (ITF event) but not by the ATP or WTA.

While the creator of the tech has slammed the decision saying “data is not steroids”, Hewitt and Todd Woodbridge added their two cents.

“I’m not sure what the ITF are doing well at the moment anyway,” Hewitt said on Channel 9.

“They’ve had a horror with Davis Cup and now this, and making new rules now, when you can use it on the WTA Tour, it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.”

Woodbridge then said: “They worry (that) you can use it for coaching… well, we’ve got coaching.

“Why can’t you have your own data? I don’t understand those rules. it doesn’t make sense. Sometimes our rules in tennis… one rule is over here and the other one says ‘no’. Can we get our rules the same please.”

11:30am Teen star destroyed by her own boss

This seems a little harsh no?

After watching Mirra Andreeva lose her fourth-round clash against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, there was not a shred of empathy or support from the president of the Russian tennis federation for their star.

“Nothing to say about Mirra's game. With a game like that, it's useless to count on the future,” Yevgeny Kafelnikov said.

“Considering the style of tennis Mirra plays this result was predictable.”

Dude she’s 18-years-old calm down.

This after Andreeva was subjected to boos as she left the court for not shaking hands with Svitolina – which was disappointing given the Ukrainian has stated on so many occasions that she will not perform the end of match ritual with Russians.

10:30am Tennis Australia "at war" with other slams

A bombshell report out of the UK claims Tennis Australia is engulfed in a war with Wimbledon and the French Open in a rift that could “split tennis completely.”

It is understood the rift was initiated by Craig Tiley’s allegiance with the Professional Tennis Players' Association (PTPA) – an independent player’s association co-created by Novak Djokovic.

The main aim of the PTPA was to create a single governing body for the sport.

At the end of 2025 it was confirmed by Tennis Australia that they had been removed from the legal action being taken against all four slams, because both parties had agreed to an early settlement.

This put Tiley on the outer with his European colleagues, but it is widely reported that the USTA will align with Tennis Australia – incidentally this is also the association Tiley is expected to be moving to after the current Australian Open.

As Simon Briggs writes in the UK Telegraph: “Tennis has been locked in a holding pattern for decades, running an over-long calendar of identikit events which exhausts the players and confuses the fans. It has only got away with its shambolic administration for this long because of the brilliance of the “Big Three” and the Williams sisters.

“The PTPA claim that maladministration has turned the world’s third-most popular sport into its 11th richest.”

It is the change, grow and improve attitude of Tiley vs the tradition and pomp of Wimbledon and the French Open.

As a sport it has been same-same for so long, it seems a huge change is coming one way of another. Surely this is only a good thing...Tiley has done incredible things for Melbourne Park.

What to watch today:

Rod Laver Arena

• 6-Jessica Pegula (US) v 9-Madison Keys (US)
• Not before 2pm
• 5-Lorenzo Musetti (Ita) v 9-Taylor Fritz (US)
• From 7pm
• Maddison Inglis (Aus) v 2-Iga Swiatek (Pol)
• 8-Ben Shelton (US) v 12-Casper Ruud (Nor)

Margaret Court Arena

• James McCabe (Aus)/Li Tu (Aus) v Jason Kubler (Aus)/Marc Polmans (Aus)
• 16-Hanyu Guo (Chn)/Kristina Mladenovic (Fra) v Kimberly Birrell/Talia Gibson (Aus)
• 5-Elena Rybakina (Kaz) v 21-Elise Mertens (Bel)
• Not before 6pm
• 22-Luciano Darderi (Ita) v 2-Jannik Sinner (Ita)

8:45am "Not steroids": Fury as world No 1 caught wearing banned tech

Bizarre scenes during Alcaraz's clash with Tommy Paul on Sunday with chair umpire Marija Cicak noticed something under the Spaniard's wrist band.

A short conversation between the two turned out to be a directive from the official for the world No 1 to remove his fitness tracking Whoop band.

The technology, which stores data from physical activity - is banned at the Open.

“You’re not allowed to play with a Whoop watch here or anything that monitors your vitals or anything else,” veteran tennis commentator Mark Petchey said about the interaction.

Later, the founder of the Whoop watch hit out at the decision.

"Whoop is approved by the International Tennis Federation for in-match wear and poses no safety risk," Will Ahmed posted on X, sharing a video from the incident at the Australian Open.

"Let the athletes measure their bodies. Data is not steroids."

The Whoop bands are approved by the ATP and WTA, it is, according to reports, the Australian's Open policy that was breached.

Alcaraz will play De Minaur in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.