Amateur stuns world's best to win A$1m in Melbourne
Amateur Jordan Smith is the shock winner of the Million Dollar One Point Slam at the Australian Open, beating reigning men’s champion Jannik Sinner along the way.
Amateur Jordan Smith is the shock winner of the Million Dollar One Point Slam at the Australian Open, beating reigning men’s champion Jannik Sinner along the way.
Alexander Blockx, Dino Prizmic, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer, and Rafael Jodar, who all competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF last month, moved to within one victory of qualifying for the Australian Open main draw on Wednesday.
Blockx won an ATP Challenger in Canberra last week and has yet to drop a set in qualifying. The 20-year-old Belgian defeated Alex Molcan 6-1, 6-1 to move closer to competing in the main draw of the major for the first time.
Croatian Prizmic, who won a set against Novak Djokovic in the main draw at the AO in 2024, downed Gustavo Heide 7-5, 6-2, while Norwegian Budkov Kjaer beat Australian James McCabe 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6). Budkov Kjaer has never competed in the main draw at a major.
Spaniard Jodar won three ATP Challenger titles in the second half of 2025, climbing from outside the Top 900 in the PIF ATP Rankings to a career-high No. 150. The 19-year-old brushed past Luxembourg’s Chris Rodesch 7-6(10), 6-3.
[NO 1 CLUB]Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who won the Australian Open doubles title in 2019 with Nicolas Mahut, eliminated Gonzalo Bueno 7-5, 6-2. Coleman Wong was a quarter-finalist at the tour-level event in Hong Kong last week and maintained his good form with a 7-6(7), 6-0 win against Pablo Llamas Ruiz.
Luca Van Assche moved past Daniil Glinka 6-3, 6-0, while Dusan Lajovic overcame Murphy Cassone 7-5, 6-3. The 35-year-old Serbian Lajovic reached the fourth round in 2021.
View full Australian Open results here.
The hard-court major begins on Sunday, with Jannik Sinner the two-time defending champion. World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz is aiming to complete the Career Grand Slam in Melbourne.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Tommy Paul needed just one extra crack at neutralising a ‘servebot’ and getting his 2026 season rolling on Wednesday, when he notched his first tour-level win in four months at the Adelaide International.
After falling to booming Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard last week in Brisbane — his first tour-level match since the US Open in August — Paul responded in Adelaide to defeat countryman Reilly Opelka 6-4, 6-4 and reach the quarter-finals. The 28-year-old American had been sidelined late in 2025 due to a lingering foot injury but showed no ill effects on his return to Adelaide, where he is a two-time semi-finalist.
“I played someone with a pretty similar gamestyle last week, so that might’ve helped me,” joked Paul. “I haven’t been playing tournaments, but I’ve been practising. I usually like the courts in Australia, it always matches up with my game. It’s good to be back. I’m happy with how my body is and I’m excited to get the year really going.”
First win of the season 🙌
No. 2 seed @TommyPaul1 knocks out compatriot Opelka 6-4, 6-4 to reach his sixth @AdelaideTennis quarter-final.#AdelaideTennis pic.twitter.com/wRyUs0NIfA
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 14, 2026
Paul reached a career-high No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings last June, but slipped to World No. 21 after missing the final three months of 2025. The second seed will next face Australian qualifier Aleksandar Vukic, who downed Italian doubles star Andrea Vavassori 6-2, 7-6(5).
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who is competing as the top seed at an ATP Tour event for the first time in his career, also recorded his first win of the 2026 season. The Spaniard dismantled Aussie wild card Rinky Hijikata 6-3, 6-2 and will meet Valentin Vacherot in the quarter-finals.
Fifth seed and reigning Shanghai champion Vacherot advanced on Wednesday after home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis withdrew from their second-round clash due to a right shoulder injury. In his opener — his first singles appearance in nearly 12 months due to pectoral surgery — he battled past Sebastian Korda, but was unable to take to court in the next round.
[NO 1 CLUB]Earlier in Adelaide, Jaume Munar continued his impressive form by upsetting third seed Francisco Cerundolo 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to notch his 17th win over a Top 20 player. Munar is coming off the back of an impressive 2025 season, during which he tallied a personal-best 31 tour-level victories, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, and meets eighth seed Tomas Machac in the quarter-finals.
Ugo Humbert will take a 2-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head lead into his quarter-final clash with Alexander Shevchenko, who also advanced on Wednesday. Humbert downed fourth seed Tallon Griekspoor 6-1, 6-4 in just 78 minutes, while Shevchenko beat Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 7-6(6).
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are the top two seeds in the men’s singles draw at the Australian Open, which runs from 18 January – 1 February.
The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Alcaraz is chasing a maiden title at Melbourne Park, with which he would complete the Career Grand Slam and become the fifth man in the Open Era to win all four major titles at least once.
Alcaraz could only meet second seed and two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner in the final, with the Spaniard leading their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 10-6. Three-time major finalist Alexander Zverev is the third seed and record 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic is the fourth seed.
Lorenzo Musetti is at a career-high World No. 5 and is the fifth seed. Alex de Minaur, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Ben Shelton are the sixth, seventh and eighth seeds, respectively.
[NO 1 CLUB]Australian Open seeds:
1. Carlos Alcaraz
2. Jannik Sinner
3. Alexander Zverev
4. Novak Djokovic
5. Lorenzo Musetti
6. Alex de Minaur
7. Felix Auger-Aliassime
8. Ben Shelton
9. Taylor Fritz
10. Alexander Bublik
11. Daniil Medvedev
12. Casper Ruud
13. Andrey Rublev
14. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
15. Karen Khachanov
16. Jakub Mensik
17. Jiri Lehecka
18. Francisco Cerundolo
19. Tommy Paul
20. Flavio Cobolli
21. Denis Shapovalov
22. Luciano Darderi
23. Tallon Griekspoor
24. Arthur Rinderknech
25. Learner Tien
26. Cameron Norrie
27. Brandon Nakashima
28. Joao Fonseca
29. Frances Tiafoe
30. Valentin Vacherot
31. Stefanos Tsitsipas
32. Corentin Moutet
Emma Raducanu claims her first victory of the season, beating Camila Osorio at the Hobart International after their match was suspended by rain on Tuesday.
Sebastian Ofner is out of Australian Open qualifying after forgetting the rules and celebrating victory early – before going on to lose eight of the next nine points.
Fabian Marozsan caused more Auckland pain for Casper Ruud on Wednesday at the ASB Classic, where the Hungarian earned his 10th Top 20 win to reach the quarter-finals.
Marozsan defeated defending champion Gael Monfils in the first round and backed that up with an impressive 6-4, 6-4 win against second seed Ruud. This marks the third opening-round defeat Ruud has suffered in four appearances at the ATP 250 event in Auckland.
Marozsan now leads the Norwegian 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Into his 10th tour-level quarter-final, the Hungarian Marozsan will next meet Eliot Spizzirri.
In other action, Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard saved one match point en route to defeating British lefty Cameron Norrie 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). The 22-year-old fended off the danger on serve at 4-5 30/40 in the third set, eventually prevailing to reach his second consecutive ATP Tour quarter-final of the new season.
He will next play third seed Jakub Mensik, who beat Serbian Hamad Medjedovic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
Top seed Ben Shelton opened his season with a 7-5, 6-4 win against Francisco Comesana. The American, competing for the first time since he made his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals in November, saved all six break points he faced against Comesana, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and now holds a perfect 12-0 record against Argentines.
Shelton is playing in Auckland for the fourth consecutive year, with his best result to date a semi-final showing in 2024. The No. 8 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will hope to maintain his impressive record against Argentines when he meets the red-hot Sebastian Baez in the quarter-finals.
[NO 1 CLUB]Baez improved to 5-0 on the new season after cruising past Jenson Brooksby 7-5, 6-0. The 25-year-old downed Taylor Fritz at the United Cup last week to earn his second Top 10 win and will look to notch another victory of a similar nature against Shelton, who leads Baez 1-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
Luciano Darderi and Spizzirri were also winners on Wednesday in Auckland. Darderi beat Alejandro Tabilo 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 to earn his first win since October, while Spizzirri eliminated Nuno Borges 7-6(6), 6-4.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]The Australian Open has released its prize money breakdown for the 2026 edition of the season’s first major. The prize pool will be AUD $111.5 million, up nearly 16 per cent on 2025. This is the largest jump in the tournament’s history.
There will be prize money increases in every round. The men’s and women’s singles champions will each earn AUD $4.15 million, up 19 per cent from last year.
See the full prize-money breakdown below.
[ATP APP]2026 Australian Open Singles Prize Money (Men & Women)
| Round | Prize Money |
| Champion | $4,150,000 |
| Finalist | $2,150,000 |
| Semi-finalist | $1,250,000 |
| Quarter-finalist | $750,000 |
| R16 | $480,000 |
| R32 | $327,750 |
| R64 | $225,000 |
| R128 | $150,000 |
2026 Australian Open Qualifying Singles (Men & Women)
| Round | Prize Money |
| R32 | $83,500 |
| R64 | $57,000 |
| R128 | $40,500 |
2026 Australian Open Doubles Prize Money (Men & Women per team)
| Round | Prize Money |
| Champion | $900,000 |
| Finalist | $485,000 |
| Semi-finalist | $275,000 |
| Quarter-finalist | $158,000 |
| R16 | $92,000 |
| R32 | $64,000 |
| R64 | $44,000 |
Thanasi Kokkinakis withdrew from the Adelaide International Wednesday due to a right shoulder injury.
The Australian’s scheduled opponent, 2025 Shanghai champion Valentin Vacherot, advances to the quarter-finals. The Monegasque player will next face top seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Australian Rinky Hijikata. Davidovich Fokina will play Hijikata Wednesday evening on centre court.
Kokkinakis made his highly anticipated return to singles action Monday evening after nearly 12 months away following a pectoral surgery last February. The home favourite battled past Sebastian Korda in a final-set tie-break, but visibly struggled with his right shoulder during the match.
“It’s tough. Obviously my right arm caused by serving has plagued me my whole career. There’s a lot of what ifs, especially in my mind, if I wasn’t struggling with that. I know little niggles are normal here and there, but I feel like kind of what I’ve gone through is a little bit out of the normal,” Kokkinakis said after his match.
“It’s tough mentally. I spent all year rehabbing, trying to get it right. I had a surgery. It was a slightly different pain to last year. I’ll see how I wake up tomorrow. But, yeah, it’s tough. It puts a dampener on the win for sure.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam tournament of the year and is set to host the best players in the world for two weeks. Among those in action will be No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Carlos Alcaraz, defending champion Jannik Sinner, 10-time winner Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev.
Here’s what you need to know about the first Grand Slam of the year:
The 2026 Australian Open will be held from 18 January – 1 February. The hard-court Grand Slam tournament, established in 1905, will take place at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The tournament director is Craig Tiley.
Alcaraz, Sinner, Zverev, Djokovic, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Lorenzo Musetti, Ben Shelton, home favourite Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz and Alexander Bublik are set to compete at the Australian Open.
[ATP APP]The Australian Open singles draw will be made on Thursday, 15 January at 2:30 p.m. AEDT. The doubles draw will be made on-site on Saturday, 17 January at 3 p.m.
*Qualifying: Monday, 12 January – Wednesday 14 January at 10 a.m., Thursday, 15 January at 11 a.m.
*Main Draw: Sunday, 18 January – Tuesday, 27 January from 11 a.m. & 7 p.m.; Wednesday, 28 January – Thursday, 29 January from 11:30 a.m. & 7 p.m.; Friday, 30 January 12 noon & 7:30 p.m.
*Doubles Final: Saturday, 31 January, intended from 12 noon
*Singles Final: Sunday, 1 February at 7:30 p.m.
View On Official Website
The prize money for the 2026 Australian Open is AUD $111.5 million.
SINGLES
Winner: $4,150,000 / 2,000 points
Finalist: $2,150,000 / 1,300 points
Semi-finalist: $1,250,000 / 800 points
Quarter-finalist: $750,000 / 400 points
Fourth Round: $480,000 / 200 points
Third Round: $327,750 / 100 points
Second Round: $225,000 / 50 points
First Round: $150,000 / 10 points
Qualifying: — / 30 points
Qualifying 3: $83,500 / 16 points
Qualifying 2: $57,000 / 8 points
Qualifying 1: $40,500 / 0 points
DOUBLES ($ per team)
Winner: $900,000 / 2,000 points
Finalist: $485,000 / 1,200 points
Semi-finalist: $275,000 / 720 points
Quarter-finalist: $158,000 / 360 points
Third Round: $92,000 / 180 points
Second Round: $64,000 / 90 points
First Round: $44,000 / 0 points
[NO 1 CLUB]
Australian Open Broadcast Schedule
Hashtag: #AO2026
Instagram: @australianopen
Facebook: Australian Open
YouTube: AustralianOpenTV
X: @australianopen
TikTok: @ausopen
Jannik Sinner clinched the 2025 Australian Open singles title with a 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over Alexander Zverev in the championship match (Read more). Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten defeated Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 6-7(16), 7-6(5), 6-3 in the doubles final (Read more).
Most Titles, Singles: Novak Djokovic (10)
Most Titles, Doubles: Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan (6)
Oldest Champion: Ken Rosewall, 37, in 1972
Youngest Champion: Mats Wilander, 19, in 1983
Highest-Ranked Champion: No. 1s Ivan Lendl in 1990, Jim Courier in 1993, Pete Sampras in 1994, 1997, Andre Agassi in 2000, Roger Federer in 2006-07, 2010, Rafael Nadal in 2009, Novak Djokovic in 2012-13, 2015-16, 2019, 2021 and Jannik Sinner in 2025
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 212 Mark Edmondson in 1976
Last Home Champion: Mark Edmondson in 1976
Most Match Wins: Roger Federer (102)
View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown
[NEWSLETTER FORM]