What are the heat rules at Australian Open?
At what point do the conditions become unplayable and put players’ health at risk at the Australian Open?
At what point do the conditions become unplayable and put players’ health at risk at the Australian Open?
Novak Djokovic says Iva Jovic has “all the tools” to be world number one – but who is the 18-year-old who will face Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open quarter-finals?
Tournament organisers postpone the wheelchair events and will start play early on outside courts in anticipation of extreme heat in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Top seeds dominate as a historic quarter-final line-up is confirmed in Melbourne.
Ben Shelton showcased the growing versatility of his game on Monday at the Australian Open, where he rallied past Casper Ruud to book a return to the quarter-finals in Melbourne.
The 23-year-old American combined resilient defence with bursts of explosive aggression to seal a gripping 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory after two hours, 36 minutes inside Rod Laver Arena. It marks Shelton’s third quarter-final appearance in just four trips to Melbourne Park, where he advanced to a meeting with two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner.
“For me, the atmosphere is everything,” said Shelton. “I’m definitely a competitor. I’m rowdy on the court and I look forward to rowdy crowds. Down here in Australia, there’s no shortage… From my first experience, I fell in love with this tournament. It’s one of my favourites marked down on the calendar every year.”
Quarter-Finals Bound! 👏@BenShelton takes out Ruud to advance into a 5th career Grand Slam quarter-final 💪#AO26 pic.twitter.com/Qp1kC6H4y3
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 26, 2026
Ruud had set the tone early with a dominant serving display in the opening set, but the Norwegian will rue costly lapses on serve late in both the second and third sets, moments that allowed Shelton to wrestle control of the contest.
Once in front, the eighth seed raised his level, striking a series of eye-catching winners and finishing points at the net with authority. Shelton won 97 per cent (29/30) of net points during the clash, according to Infosys Stats, and dropped just three points on serve in the fourth set as he closed out the match in commanding fashion.
“It’s what you look forward to most in this sport,” Shelton said of his upcoming clash with Sinner, who leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 8-1, including victory in their semi-final meeting in Melbourne last year. “It’s where I wanted to be. I wanted to be back here. I wanted to give myself another shot, improve on some things I didn’t do as well last year and leave it all out on the court.”
Ruud, who reached the fourth round at the Australian Open for the first time since 2021, will now head home to Norway, where he and his wife Maria are expecting a daughter.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Luxembourg’s Chris Rodesch captured his second ATP Challenger trophy on Sunday when he triumphed at the Indoor Oeiras Open 1 in Portugal.
The 24-year-old, a former standout at the University of Virginia, adds to the list of collegiate alums to succeed at the next level. Last year, 23 different players with college tennis experience earned at least one ATP Challenger title, including Rodesch, who won his maiden crown in Tallahassee in April.
Now back in the winner’s circle, the 6’6” (198cm) Rodesch defeated Hungary’s Zsombor Piros 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the Oeiras final.
Trophy time in Oeiras 🏆#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/bG9IWeblpN
— ATP Challenger (@ATPChallenger) January 25, 2026
“I’m really happy, it was a really tough week,” said Rodesch, up 55 places to No. 154 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. “I felt like my first two tournaments in Australia, I had a really good level, but I didn’t get rewarded the way I wanted to.
“So to get rewarded now, in the third tournament of 2026, with the level I’m playing, is really nice. It’s a really, really special feeling to win my second Challenger.”
Rodesch graduated from the University of Virginia in 2024, earning ITA All-American honours three times during his college career. Rodesch and former World No. 21 Gilles Muller are the only players from Luxembourg to win on the ATP Challenger circuit.
Paraguay’s Vallejo wins fourth Challenger trophy
Adolfo Daniel Vallejo captured his fourth Challenger title at the Itajai Open in Brazil, where he overcame home hope Thiago Seyboth Wild 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 in a three-hour, 13-minute final.
Vallejo, 21, captured two Challenger titles in 2025, including in the final week at the Guayaquil Challenger. After reaching the final round of qualifying at the Australian Open, Vallejo travelled to Brazil and easily made the transition to clay. Vallejo is No. 125 in the PIF Live ATP Rankings, setting him up for a new career high.
<img alt=”Adolfo Daniel Vallejo wins the Itajai Challenger.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/01/26/15/04/vallejo-itajaich-2026.jpg” />
Adolfo Daniel Vallejo wins his fourth Challenger title, three of which have come in Brazil. Credit: João Pires
Harris, former No. 31, returns to titletown
Former World No. 31 Lloyd Harris won his first title at any level since June 2024 with his victory at the Soma Bay Open in Egypt. The fifth-seeded Harris, who was a quarter-finalist at the 2021 US Open, led Jack Pinnington Jones 6-1, 5-2 in the final when the Briton retired with a right foot injury.
The smile of a champion 😁
Lloyd Harris lifts his first trophy since 2024 with a 6-1, 5-2(ret) victory over Pinnington Jones in Soma Bay#ATPChallenger | @TennisSA pic.twitter.com/4N90w1ZdiQ
— ATP Challenger (@ATPChallenger) January 25, 2026
Kwon, two-time tour-level titlist, advances through qualifying en route to trophy
South Korean Soonwoo Kwon also returned to the winner’s circle with his triumph at NovaWorld Phan Thiet Challenger 1 in Vietnam. His first title at Challenger level or above since winning the ATP 250 in Adelaide in 2023, Kwon advanced through qualifying en route to lifting the trophy. The 28-year-old, who won seven matches in eight days, defeated Ilia Simakin 6-2, 7-6(5) in the championship match.
Jannik Sinner looks rejuvenated as he sails into the Australian Open quarter-finals with an assured victory over fellow Italian Luciano Darderi.
Jannik Sinner negotiated a brief moment of late uncertainty on Monday at the Australian Open, but ultimately asserted his authority to defeat fellow Italian Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(2) and move into the quarter-finals in Melbourne.
The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings struck with authority, pairing relentless precision with a clinical edge that largely kept doubt and drama at bay. Having struggled with cramping against Eliot Spizzirri in the previous round — a match in which he later admitted he “got lucky” with a timely roof closure — Sinner escaped a nervy finish against Darderi, as both his momentum and physical condition briefly threatened to fade.
“It was very difficult. We are good friends off the court, that’s also a small difficulty to put away,” Sinner said of Darderi. “In the third set I had a couple of break chances, [but] I couldn’t use them… Then I got very tight, so I’m very happy that I closed it in three sets.”
Simply too good 🔥@janniksin defeats compatriot Darderi to reach the quarter-finals for the fourth time.@AustralianOpen | #AO26 pic.twitter.com/LVdNyAZeO4
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 26, 2026
In his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Darderi, Sinner dictated from the baseline with clean timing and sharp serving. Darderi briefly threatened late in the third set when he produced a surge of aggressive baseline play to earn four break points at 4-4 and led 2/0 in the tie-break. It loomed as a potential turning point, but Sinner shut the door emphatically, winning seven straight points to close out the victory.
Next up, Sinner will face Ben Shelton or Casper Ruud as he continues his bid to join Novak Djokovic as the only men to lift three consecutive Australian Open titles. The pair now sit just one win apiece away from a potential blockbuster semi-final clash.
[NO 1 CLUB]With his two-hour, nine-minute victory over Darderi, Sinner advanced to his fourth Australian Open quarter-final, drawing level with Grigor Dimitrov, Kei Nishikori and Stefanos Tsitsipas for the fourth-most appearances at that stage among active players.
Sinner’s blend of power and efficiency proved decisive in his straight-sets victory, allowing him to close out the match without inviting further questions around his fitness. He finished with 46 winners, including 19 aces, and remained perfect against his countrymen, extending to an 18-0 tour-level record against fellow Italians.
“We put a lot of work in, especially with the serve,” Sinner added. “We changed the motion a bit and I feel for sure a little bit more confident. There is still room to improve, which is normal, but I’m very happy with how I have come back in the new season. At the end of last season, I served really well, [and] it’s much more stable.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Taylor Fritz was in a philosophical mood after falling to an uncharacteristically lacklustre Grand Slam exit against Lorenzo Musetti on Monday afternoon at the Australian Open.
The American struggled to lay a glove on his Top 10 rival during the pair’s fourth-round meeting inside Rod Laver Arena. Speaking in his post-match press conference, Fritz praised the commanding performance of Musetti but also opened up further on how the tendonitis in his knee, as well as a more recent oblique injury, hampered his title bid at Melbourne Park.
“I’ve been pretty, I guess, transparent about the knee stuff the entire week,” said Fritz. “I was so happy with how I was feeling throughout the first two rounds, and then I came in after the match with Stan [Wawrinka] and it wasn’t feeling great, especially towards the end of the match.
“Today I was feeling it from the get-go. I felt good in my warmup this morning. Then when I went to do my pre-match stuff, like moving around and stuff before the match, I just I told my physio. I was like, ‘My knee just doesn’t feel great’. I was hoping it would loosen up. I don’t really think it got worse, but it kind of just stayed the same the entire match. It was just pretty much everything was bothering it.”
With his victory, the No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings Musetti improved to 4-3 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Fritz, who played Monday’s clash with tape on both his right and left oblique muscles,
“I just felt like I was striking the ball well. I think a lot of my mistakes just came from me pulling up, not feeling like I’m loading my knee hard enough,” said World No. 9 Fritz. “I really don’t also want to take any credit away. He was playing really well, serving really well, neutralising when I was attacking extremely well. He played great.”
[NO 1 CLUB]Fritz expressed confidence that the oblique injury would heal quickly with some time off, while he also reiterated the need to be patient in the recovery from his knee tendonitis.
“My knee still is improving. Like I said in press after my first and second round, it’s going to be a process,” said the 28-year-old. “It was feeling better. I’m still not 100 per cent sure why I kind of went backwards the last three or four days after two weeks of it, three weeks of it just consistently getting better.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people that have had this, and they say I’ll make a full recovery at some point. Then I’ve recovered from the oblique thing before. It’s not too serious. My main focus is to just get 100 per cent healthy, which I’m hoping it’s not too far away, and just to be on top of everything so I can train and really just practise and train like I am used to.”
Currently 4-4 for the 2026 season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, Fritz is next scheduled to compete at the Nexo Dallas Open, which this year runs from 9-15 February.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Jessica Pegula ends Madison Keys’ Australian Open title defence to reach the quarter-finals and win a “gross” apple pie bet.