Alcaraz cruises to 14th Grand Slam quarter-final
A straight-set win over American seed Tommy Paul takes world number one Carlos Alcaraz into a 14th Grand Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open.
A straight-set win over American seed Tommy Paul takes world number one Carlos Alcaraz into a 14th Grand Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic moves through to the Australian Open quarter-finals as fourth-round opponent Jakub Mensik pulls out with an abdominal injury.
World number one Carlos Alcaraz describes his serve as an “important weapon” as he continues his serene run to the Australian Open quarter-finals.
When Daniil Medvedev stepped onto court on Sunday to face Learner Tien in the fourth round of the Australian Open, he was perfect on the season, holding an 8–0 record according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
A little more than 90 minutes later, however, the first blemish on his 2026 scorecard had been firmly marked. The former three-time finalist in Melbourne had few answers for Tien, who delivered a commanding 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 victory. Still, when reflecting on the defeat, the 29-year-old Medvedev was keen to keep perspective.
“I think I should focus more in general. If we take the past eight tournaments, starting from US Open, I played great,” Medvedev said. “I beat a lot of players. I played great against some top players. In general, I was going far in the results. Even here, I won two very tough matches against opponents who played well, [Quentin] Halys and Fabian [Marozsan].
“So I should try not to focus on this exact match, which was not good, because he outplayed me, so that’s not a good feeling. But I should focus more on the general picture and just continue working the way I did for the last tournaments. If I manage to play good, beat all the players I have beaten in all these tournaments, I can get to where I want. Of course, it’s unfortunate to finish a Grand Slam like this when I was feeling well and confident, but it is what it is.”
After a somewhat testing 18 months, Medvedev has looked closer to his best since the start of the Asian swing in September. The former No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, now coached by Thomas Johansson and Rohan Goetzke, has won recent titles in Almaty and Brisbane and earned Top 10 victories against Alexander Zverev and Alex de Minaur.
However, he has now lost three of his four Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings against the 20-year-old Tien, who also defeated Medvedev in Melbourne last year. Despite his frustrations with Sunday’s match, Medvedev was full of praise for the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion.
“He played great, super-aggressive. Even when I was making good shots, he was making a better shot back,” Medvedev said. “I didn’t find many solutions today on the court, which is rare, and I didn’t feel that many times in my life like this.
“But, again, these things can happen. He had an unbelievable match where everything went in. It did happen to me as well a couple of times, and you even kind of feel sorry for your opponent, because, okay, I can go for tweener now and probably with closed eyes and make it. It happens. I should have done maybe something a little bit better to try to disturb this rhythm of his.”
Medvedev is next scheduled to play at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam, where he won the title in 2023.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Jakub Mensik has withdrawn from the Australian Open due to an abdominal muscle injury, giving Novak Djokovic a walkover into the quarter-finals.
“After doing everything we could to keep going, I have to withdraw from the Australian Open due to an abdominal muscle injury that has progressed over the last matches,” Mensik said. “Even though I’m disappointed, making the fourth round here for the first time is something I will carry with me for a long time.
“I felt so much energy from the fans and the atmosphere in Melbourne was truly special.”
[NO 1 CLUB]After battling past former Top-10 star Pablo Carreno Busta in five sets in the first round, Mensik beat Rafael Jodar and Ethan Quinn in straight sets. But he will not take the court for what would have been a rematch of the 2025 Miami final, won by Mensik.
Djokovic will take on fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti or ninth seed Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals. The 10-time Australian Open champion is pursuing his 25th major trophy.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Learner Tien delivered a resounding statement on Sunday at the Australian Open, where he produced a scintillating performance to dismiss three-time finalist Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 and become the youngest men’s singles quarter-finalist at the major since Nick Kyrgios in 2015.
The 20-year-old’s victory marked the latest chapter in a rapidly developing rivalry. Twelve months ago in Melbourne, then World No. 121 Tien stunned Medvedev in a five-set second-round epic. That win proved a launchpad, with Tien later defeating the former World No. 1 again en route to his maiden tour-level final in Beijing.
This time in Melbourne, however, there was little drama. After a competitive opening set, clinched by the 20-year-old with a whipped forehand winner down the line, Tien seized complete control. He reeled off 12 of the next 15 games of the match, closing out victory in just one hour and 39 minutes with a stunning backhand pass.
“It feels amazing, it is so special to do it here,” Tien said on reaching his first major tour-level quarter-final. “It is so special to come back here and play every year and it was a big goal of mine [to play well here] and I am super happy.
“Every year since I have come here the crowd support has been amazing. I don’t know why, but every year it has been so special to come back and have a crowd like this, with so much energy. It means the world to me.”
Medvedev arrived in Melbourne in good form, having lifted his 22nd tour-level title in Brisbane earlier this month and posting three solid wins to reach the fourth round of the hard-court major for the sixth time. But he was unable to match Tien from the baseline, as the 25th seed dictated play with superior consistency, aggression and authority. Tien finished with a 33-16 winners-to-unforced errors count, compared to Medvedev, who was 15-30 across the same metrics.
Fresh from capturing the Next Gen ATP Finals crown in Jeddah last month, Tien has continued his rapid ascent in Melbourne and is up to No. 24 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Tien is the youngest American to reach the quarter-finals at a major since 2002 and will hope to continue his journey against Alexander Zverev.
[NO 1 CLUB]The American will meet Zverev on Tuesday after the German overcame Francisco Cerundolo. Zverev lost his first three meetings against Cerundolo but has since won their past three encounters, with their Head2Head series level at 3-3.
The No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings showed no sign of those earlier Cerundolo struggles on John Cain Arena, where he cruised past Cerundolo 6–2, 6–4, 6–4 in two hours and 12 minutes.
Zverev has now reached the Australian Open quarter-finals for the fifth time, moving past Boris Becker for the most last-eight appearances at the tournament by a German man. However, he is still seeking to convert deep runs into major glory. Last year, the World No. 3 reached the final at Melbourne Park for the first time.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Teenager Iva Jovic is “excited” to test herself against “the best” after booking an Australian Open quarter-final against Aryna Sabalenka.
Could Roger Federer be Luciano Darderi’s lucky charm?
Before the Italian reached the second week at a major for the first time at the Australian Open, he met one of the biggest legends in sport: Federer. The Swiss was a consistent presence on the grounds earlier this fortnight and the 23-year-old Darderi approached him for a photo, a moment made more comfortable because his physical trainer, Bernardo Carberol, has long known the 103-time tour-level titlist.
“It was the first time, and he knew how I’m playing, he knew who I am,” Darderi told ATPTour.com with a sense of astonishment. “Congrats, he said.”
Federer is not the only one.
A lot of people are getting to know Darderi, who first broke into the Top 100 in the PIF ATP Rankings nearly two years ago. Now, he is up to No. 23 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and climbing.
What is surprising is that Darderi’s Slam breakthrough has come on hard courts. Entering the Australian Open, he held a 9-29 record on the surface. Now the winner of three clay-court titles in 2025 is into the fourth round off the back of victories against close friend Cristian Garin, Sebastian Baez and 2023 Melbourne semi-finalist Karen Khachanov.
“I’ve been feeling so good. I think we did a good preseason on hard, and last week I took a lot of confidence in Auckland because I made my first quarter-final on hard court,” Darderi said. “I think those matches gave me a lot of confidence, and here I started playing very well. Today was a really important match for me in my career, because second week in a Grand Slam, you don’t do [that] every day. I think today was a big chance for me, and I took that.”
[NO 1 CLUB]Darderi spent some of his offseason training in Dubai, where he practised one day with his next opponent: two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner. It will be their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.
“We just practised one day, but we know each other. He’s a really good guy,” Darderi said. “He’s an amazing player. He’s No. 2 in the world right now. He won the past two years here… But we will try to be focused on my game and trying to do my best.”
Could Darderi take much from that session with Sinner into their clash? The four-time ATP Tour titlist believes training is much different compared to a match.
“I think he has a really good level on hard courts, obviously. So let’s just try to enjoy, to play the best tennis and then see what happens,” Darderi said. “He is doing everything very well, so you have to push him into the difficult moments, or just to stay close in the court. He’s serving very well, returning, doing everything. That’s why he’s No. 2 in the world now.”
Darderi has been working hard on playing more aggressively on hard courts, which is a big reason behind his recent success (He also made the third round at last year’s US Open.). The Italian spent 10 days with his father and coach, Luciano Enrique Darderi, as well as former World No. 13 Guillermo Perez-Roldan, in Argentina before the start of the season.
“We’re [making] a really good team and I feel really comfortable with them,” Darderi said, before explaining what their focus was. “The attacks. Attacking on hard courts is one of the keys and then a lot of things, for sure.”
On Perez-Roldan, Darderi said: “I think we’re really similar. Since the beginning, he told me the same, that he plays like me with forehand, with serve, and fighting. It’s pretty nice. He’s a real friend of my dad, too, so it’s really good to have him in the team with a lot of experience. He was No. 13 in the world, so he can bring me a lot of things.
“We’re just trying to be more aggressive on the important moments, serving very well, serving better than on clay courts. I think the key is always to play more or hard, because I was playing so much on clay. But now playing on hard, I take confidence, and I think I have a good forehand and serve to play on hard courts.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Carlos Alcaraz faced the sternest test of his 2026 Australian Open so far on Sunday afternoon, but the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings overcame the challenge of Tommy Paul to maintain his commanding start to the hard-court major in Melbourne.
Alcaraz overcame 19th seed Paul 7-6(6), 6-4, 7-5 with a fourth-round performance packed with explosive shotmaking to improve to 12-0 in sets played so far this fortnight. Paul, owner of two Lexus ATP Head2Head victories against the Spaniard, quickly showcased the threat he posed by opening a 4-2 lead early inside Rod Laver Arena. Yet Alcaraz soon recovered and produced some scintillating tennis to reach his third consecutive Australian Open quarter-final.
World No. 1 things 🔥@carlosalcaraz defeats Paul 7-6(6), 6-4, 7-5 to return to the quarter-finals.@AustralianOpen | #AO26 pic.twitter.com/cnTEtNaIuS
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 25, 2026
“I think he started pretty strong. In the first game, serving, I thought I played a good game, but he came with really strong shots, really flat, and for me it was a bit difficult,” said Alcaraz in his on-court interview. “But I stayed there all the time and I knew I was going to have my chances, and I tried to take them. I think I did that.
“Overall, I think it was a really high level of tennis from both sides, but I’m just really happy that I got it in straight sets.”
The 22-year-old top seed fired 35 winners, according to Infosys Stats, en route to sealing a last-eight meeting with home favourite Alex de Minaur or Alexander Bublik at Melbourne Park. With his two-hour, 44-minute victory, Alcaraz also stayed on track to become the youngest man to complete the Career Grand Slam (winning the singles title at all four majors). The current holder of that record is his countryman Rafael Nadal.
In a tight first set, Alcaraz had to fight back from the early break deficit as 2023 semi-finalist Paul went toe to toe with the powerful Spaniard from the baseline. In the subsequent tie-break, Paul fired a backhand down the line to fend off a set point at 5/6 that proved to be one of the highlights of the match, but the American quickly undermined that effort by gifting Alcaraz the set with a double fault at 6/7.
With the momentum firmly in his favour, Alcaraz rode a purple patch to clinch a break of serve in the third game of the second set. The 24-time tour-level titlist produced a series of winners off his forehand in particular that had the Rod Laver Arena crowd gasping at the combination of spin and sheer velocity.
Paul, who won five of his first seven matches this season after not competing for the final three months of the 2025 season due to injury, continued to battle in trademark fashion in pursuit of his fifth Grand Slam quarter-final. However, although the 28-year-old did not lack moments of quality of his own, he was unable to sustain any real pressure on Alcaraz once the first set was gone.
After saving three break points to hold serve for 2-1 in the third game of the third set, Paul was unable to repeat the escape in the 11th game. Alcaraz crucially claimed his third break of the match before serving out to improve to 6-2 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Paul.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]During the Australian Open, ATPTour.com will bring fans insight into the leaders of key statistical categories, showing how performances throughout 2025 all added up to successful seasons and the promise of more good times ahead in 2026.
Novak Djokovic’s 2025 season offered a masterclass in ruthless efficiency: when he wins the first set, he finishes the job.
Across the year, he posted a spotless 30-0 record in matches where he claimed the opening set, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. That consistency is a testament to focus, composure and match intelligence when under pressure, qualities that have been instrumental in Djokovic’s storied career.
What makes the Serbian’s 2025 performance when taking the first set even more impressive is that it’s merely the latest chapter in a long-standing trend. In 2024, Djokovic went an astonishing 35-0 himself when winning the first set and, including his first three victories at the 2026 Australian Open, he has now won his past 87 matches when winning the opener.
The last time he dropped a match after winning the first set was his epic five-set Wimbledon final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in 2023.
Novak Djokovic’s record when winning the first set 2023-2025
| Season | W-L |
| 2025 | 30-0 |
| 2024 | 35-0 |
| 2023 | 48-2 |
Beyond the numbers, this streak reveals the core of Djokovic’s ability: once he grabs the lead, his mental and physical rhythm stays locked in. In tight moments, when opponents try to claw back, he rarely falters, and his rock-solid baseline game is a huge part of why he has spent a record 428 weeks at No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings. It’s the kind of longevity that is built on consistency, match after match, season after season.
Djokovic’s record when winning the first set speaks to a champion who seizes the moment the instant he gets an edge. One who doesn’t merely win sets, but locks in, executes and closes out until the job is done.
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