The 2026 Australian Open

[the coming of gary]

Already time for the first major tournament !
The top four seeds ;

1, Alcaraz - needs this to complete the set of Slams
2. Sinner - Going for third consecutive win in this . Deserved favourite
3. Zverev - Has type one diabetes, may struggle in extreme heat
4. Djokovic - can he win it at age 38 ?
Best outsider - Bublik - explosive year took him from number 80 up to 10

.. and the women ;

1. Sabalenka - Strength and power for these hard courts
2. Swiatek - Six grand slam titles already
3. Gauff - the French open champion
4. Anisimova - Was famously thrashed in last years Wimbledon final
Best outsider - Andreeva - challenging the best at only 18 years old

Brit Watch - Cam Norrie is seeded and will be looking to week two.
But Dan Evans lost the qualifier, and Jack Draper is still injured.
Katie Boulter has tough first round v Bencic, and Raducanu could face Sabalenka in round three.
.
 

[the coming of gary]

Yes congrats to Alcaraz

A tournament that may be remembered for a pair of
epic semi finals totalling about ten hours

Next stop, Paris in the spring 
.

[Fauxstralian]

Fair play to Djokovic to be competitive at 38 but Alcaraz too good
Wins in 4 after losing the first set
Youngest ever to win the set of Grand Slams

[Fauxstralian]

Early break for Djokovic and leads 4-1
Cool night with the roof open so shouldn’t be any physical issues
Djokovic chasing Grand Slam 25 & Alcaraz to be the youngest man to have won all 4 singles Grand Slams

[the coming of gary]

Congrats to the new Women's champion, Elena Rybakina !

Men's final tomorrow.
.

[the coming of gary]

The two finals are set ;

Alcaraz v Djokovic

Sabalenka v Rybakina
.

[the coming of gary]

Alcaraz just about beats Zverev in one of the all time great matches

5 hours, 27 minutes
.

[Fauxstralian]

Saw a complaint the other day that Alcaraz & Sinner dominating was boring
Djokovic is hanging at a level below at his age but it’s up to others to step up
It’s often been the case that there are a couple of dominant players … Borg v McEnroe maybe … but it’s rare to have 3 like Federer, Nadal & Djokovic with Murray a step back
Worse is if there is one dominant player like Sampras
Im in the Alcaraz camp myself … don’t trust junkie ginger Italians 

[El Scorchio]

More luck for Djokovic last night ; he was 2 - 0 down in sets, and on his was out, when his opponent had to retire injured
He already had a walkover in the previous round
To his credit, he said
"Musetti was the far better player. He should have been the winner today"
.

He always seems to get that bit of luck when he needs it. Combined of course with his 'vegan diet' and 'herbal supplements'.

I imagine he's going to get wiped by Sinner (another one who always seems to get massive slices of good luck regularly) in the semis though.

Hoping Alcaraz wins.

[Fauxstralian]

Obviously they want to make as much money as possible so they have day sessions & night sessions like the US Open ie sell two lots of tickets per day
If they really wanted to help the players they’d make it a night tournament which I guess would suit European tv better
Of course would cause a problem for English players who whined enough about a d/n Ashes Test

[the coming of gary]

More luck for Djokovic last night ; he was 2 - 0 down in sets, and on his was out, when his opponent had to retire injured
He already had a walkover in the previous round
To his credit, he said
"Musetti was the far better player. He should have been the winner today"
.

[El Scorchio]

Tennis is a summer sport
The French is in May, Wimbledon in June & the US in September 
They could move it to say March but that’s often hot anyway
And they probably want a lead up of clay court tournaments before the French

I agree it is but 40+ degrees with those levels of physical exertion is asking a lot. But I also agree if not where it currently is, then what do you do with it? Probably best to focus on whatever can be done to keep the players as comfortable as possible.

[Fauxstralian]

de Minaur well beaten by Alcaraz
He is a perennial quarter finalist but doesn’t have the game to challenge Alcaraz & Sinner who are head & shoulders above the rest
Sinner has to likely beat Djokovic in the semi final but a Sinner / Alcaraz final seems inevitable 

[Fauxstralian]

Tennis is a summer sport
The French is in May, Wimbledon in June & the US in September 
They could move it to say March but that’s often hot anyway
And they probably want a lead up of clay court tournaments before the French

[El Scorchio]

Big ask to change the calendar because where would you put it VS the other slams but it has always seemed mad they play this tournament in the middle of the Aussie summer.

[Manuel]

Heat has stopped play.

[the coming of gary]

Brutal conditions down in Melbourne, as temperatures hit 42 degrees
.

[the coming of gary]

... Already heading for the Quarter Finals -

Alcaraz v De Minaur
Zverev v Tien
Musetti v Djokovic
Sinner v Shelton / Ruud

and the women -

Sabalenka v Jovic
Gauff v Svitolina
Pegula v Anisimova
Rybakina v Swiatek
.

[Fauxstralian]

Cry in a minute
No English mens grand slam singles champion since Fred Perry
Disgraceful especially given the funds Wimbledon generates
Too many posh cunts 

Sinner gets out of jail
Set down to a qualifier & struggling to walk before the heat rule is imposed & the roof closed 
It’s only 40 degrees FFS 

[Eerie Decent]

He'd fit right in with the United Nations of Australia cricket team.

[violator]

I wonder if he's any good opening bat at cricket

[Fauxstralian]

Norrie out
He was the last South African player born to Scottish & Welsh parents who grew up in New Zealand before going through the USA college system left in the draw 

[Fauxstralian]

Sinner & Djokovic both through the 2nd round in straight sets in around 2 hrs each
Easy

Wawrinka has the 9th seed Fritz next

[violator]

What Emma needs is a thoroughly good knobbing.

Jodie Burrage would be first in line.

[Far Cough UKunt]

What Emma needs is a thoroughly good knobbing.

[Manuel]

Stan Wawrinka is the first man aged 40 or over to reach the third round of a Grand Slam in singles since Ken Rosewall at the 1978 Australian Open.