Title winners
Mirra Andreeva couldn’t have dreamt of a better preparation for the Australian Open, with the world number eight cruising to the WTA 500 crown in Adelaide without dropping a set on Saturday.
Having seen off the likes of Diana Shnaider and Maya Joint en route to the final, the Russian outclassed fellow teenager Victoria Mboko 6-3, 6-1 in the showpiece to claim the fourth title of her burgeoning career.
Andreeva reeled off 12 of the last 13 games against Mboko, recovering from a 3-0 deficit early in the first set to overwhelm her opponent with a clinical 60-minute performance.
The victory gives the 18-year-old her first piece of silverware since last year's Indian Wells, and after a disappointing end to 2025, she’ll be determined to carry her momentum into the first Grand Slam of the new season.
Staying on the WTA Tour, there was a surprise champion in Hobart, as Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto clinched the second WTA title of her career after a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 triumph over American teenager Iva Jovic.
Ranked 80th in the world, Cocciaretto made amends for her final defeat to Lauren Davis in 2024, proving too strong for third seed Jovic in a competitive clash.
The Italian became the fourth qualifier ever to win the Hobart singles title, following Mona Barthel (2012), Garbine Muguruza (2014), and Davis (2024), while she also denied the USA a fourth straight winner at the event.
Meanwhile, on the ATP Tour, it was a dream week for Czech tennis as Tomas Machac and Jakub Mensik picked up trophies in Adelaide and Auckland, respectively, on Saturday to become the first Czech male duo to win tour-level titles in the same week since Ivan Lendl and Tomas Smid in 1982.
Machac captured the crown at the ATP 250 in Adelaide after recovering from a second-set wobble to defeat France’s Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-2.
Seeded eighth at the tournament, the 25-year-old also saw off the likes of Tommy Paul and Jaume Munar en route to clinching his second career title.
As for Mensik, he underlined his status as one of the sport’s most exciting talents after saving three set points in the second-set tiebreak to defeat Sebastian Baez 6-3, 7-6(7) in the Auckland final.
The 20-year-old fired down 18 aces in a brilliant serving display to become the youngest Auckland champion since Juan Martin del Potro in 2009.
Biggest strugglers
Seeded fourth in Adelaide, Ekaterina Alexandrova slumped to a disappointing early exit after losing 6-4, 6-4 to qualifier Jaqueline Cristian.
It was a fourth defeat in five matches for the 31-year-old, who had climbed to a career-high ranking of 10 at the end of 2025 after an impressive year on Tour.
Despite her recent struggles, Alexandrova will be quietly confident of reaching the Australian Open fourth round for the first time as she prepares to take on Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez in her tournament opener.
Having claimed wins over Taylor Fritz, Billy Harris and Shintaro Mochizuki at the United Cup, Stefanos Tsitsipas would’ve been hoping for a deep run in Adelaide to continue his encouraging start to 2026.
However, the Greek was surprisingly beaten in his opening match at the ATP 250 event, with home favourite Aleksandar Vukic coming out on top in two closely fought sets, 7-6(3), 7-6(5).
Now ranked as low as 33 in the world, Tsitsipas will be determined to recapture his best form in Melbourne - a place where he has fond memories, having reached the Australian Open final in 2023.
Standout moment
There were dramatic scenes in Australian Open qualifying, as a premature victory celebration from Sebastian Ofner turned into a disastrous collapse against Nishesh Basavareddy.
The Austrian began celebrating and walked confidently to the net after clinching a point to move 7-1 ahead in the deciding set tiebreak - forgetting that it was 10 points needed to win a final set tiebreak, not the usual seven.
What followed as Ofner trudged back to the baseline was the stuff of nightmares, with Basavareddy reeling off eight of the next nine points before saving two 'real' match points to come out on top 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(11).
To compound Ofner’s misery, the American marked his remarkable triumph by holding his hands at his neck in a ‘choking’ celebration.
Best rallies
Baez put together this incredible point in the Auckland final against Mensik.
Mboko produced some brilliant tennis in Adelaide, including this point against Anna Kalinskaya.
Upcoming events
All attention now shifts to the Australian Open for the next fortnight, with Jannik Sinner and Madison Keys looking to defend their titles in Melbourne, while Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek set their sights on completing the Career Grand Slam.
There are several eye-catching first-round matches to look out for over the next few days, including Alex de Minaur vs Matteo Berrettini, Barbora Krejcikova vs Shnaider and Andreeva vs Donna Vekic.
Read our analysis of the men’s draw here and the women’s draw here.
Check out the full ATP schedule and WTA schedule via the links.
