Jones 'didn't make it easy' but gets biggest win
Britain’s Francesca Jones opens her 2026 season with the biggest win of her career, beating world number 15 Emma Navarro in Auckland.
Britain’s Francesca Jones opens her 2026 season with the biggest win of her career, beating world number 15 Emma Navarro in Auckland.
Hubert Hurkacz has left no doubt — the Polish star is back.
After missing nearly seven months due to a right knee injury for which he underwent arthroscopic surgery on 2 July, Hurkacz made a statement return to action at the United Cup Monday evening. The 28-year-old stunned World No. 3 Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4 to give Team Poland a 1-0 lead against Team Germany in Sydney.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been competing. Seven months I’ve been going through difficult times with the team and it was very challenging,” Hurkacz said. “They were all supporting me, they were all behind me. We went through definitely a long period of time not competing and not knowing when we [would] be able to be back on court again. I was just trying to cherish and enjoy every moment here on the court today.”
Hurkacz had not played a match since June in ’s-Hertogenbosch, leading to a fall to No. 83 in the PIF ATP Rankings. But the former World No. 6 played well above his ranking inside Ken Rosewall Arena, facing just one break point in his one-hour, 23-minute victory.
The two-time Nitto ATP Finals competitor held up well under pressure against Zverev, beautifully redirecting a backhand up the line to secure the critical break at 3-3 in the second set. Hurkacz faced just one break point in the match according to Infosys ATP Stats, hitting 21 aces to allow his opponent few opportunities to work his way into points.
“I was serving quite well. I was finding nice spots, so that’s definitely a nice feeling to really have good rhythm on the serve,” Hurkacz said. “Just so pleased with the performance and just also so much fun to see the fans again.”
Zverev walked on court with a 3-1 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead against Hurkacz, but was unable to consistently make Hurkacz uncomfortable the way he did Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor on Sunday.
Iga Swiatek will try to close out the tie for Poland when she takes the court against Eva Lys. The German earned a straightforward victory against Suzan Lamens of The Netherlands.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]When Jakub Mensik was 16, he reached the 2022 Australian Open boys’ singles final. The Czech pushed his match against Bruno Kuzuhara deep into a third set, but ultimately suffered full-body cramp in the final game of the match, losing a heartbreaker. Watching at the time was Barbora Krejcikova, now a two-time major singles champion and Mensik’s United Cup teammate.
“I was definitely following him since he was cramping in Australia a couple of years ago,” Krejcikova told ATPTour.com, cracking a laugh. “I was following him since then, and I’m really happy that he’s making such progress and that he’s doing great, and he’s very talented.”
Nearly four years later, Krejcikova and Mensik are trying to claim the United Cup trophy for their country for the first time. The Czechs made a perfect start Monday, easing past Norway 3-0.
After Krejcikova earned her opening victory, she was watching a television feed of Mensik’s match. The 20-year-old battled past Casper Ruud in two tight sets.
“We were sitting in our little office in there. We were shouting at the TV and really pumping him up,” Krejcikova said. “I’m really happy that he won.”
Krejcikova is a big tennis fan who enjoys watching many matches. She was happy to get a close look at Mensik, the 2025 Miami ATP Masters 1000 champion.
“What I definitely love about his tennis is the serve,” Krejcikova said. “Overall today I was able to watch him a little bit more, because I mean, the Tours are separate, and we don’t really have the opportunities to spend as much time together.
“Today was amazing. I think he was playing unbelievable, and he was serving really well during the important points. He was passing so many times. It was unbelievable.”
[NO 1 CLUB]Mensik hit 16 aces against Ruud according to Infosys ATP Stats, helping him take a 2-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head lead against the Norwegian.
“I think just the way how he hits it, how compact his serve is,” Krejcikova said. “I feel like he’s tossing the ball every single time the same way, so that’s something unique. It’s something that is very tough for me, so actually, I would love to have his serve.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Jessica Bouzas Maneiro is coming off a breakout 2025 season in which she set a career-high ranking of No. 40, reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon and made her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal in Montreal.
On Monday at the United Cup, the Spaniard carried that momentum into 2026, upsetting World No. 4 Coco Gauff in dominant fashion, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-0 at RAC Arena. The loss is Gauff’s first at the United Cup in 10 matches across singles and doubles; she entered the day 6-0 in singles and 9-0 overall.
The win marks Bouzas Maneiro’s first career Top-5 victory and gives Spain a 1-0 lead over the United States ahead of the men’s singles match between Taylor Fritz and Jaume Munar.
“I know Coco and she’s a fighter,” Bouzas Maneiro said after the match. “She’s there all the time in the match, so I knew that I had to be there, and even if I’m 4-1 up, I have to be there. And yeah, she won the second set and I went to the bathroom and I was trying to focus just to take it point by point.
“And that was my mentality in the third set. To be [there] with power every point because even if you are [up] 3-0 or 4-0, you have to be ready.”
[ATP APP]Bouzas Maneiro set the tone immediately, breaking Gauff in the opening game en route to a 5-0 lead. She went on to break the American in all four of her service games in the first set and nine times overall.
Her forehand — which produced 11 winners in the match — fueled her early surge, but her return game, paired with Gauff’s serving struggles, defined the rest of the match. It was a stark contrast to Gauff’s dominant performance earlier in the week against Argentina’s Solana Sierra.
Gauff landed just 60% of her first serves and won just under 60% of those points. She was further undone by 14 double faults and 54 unforced errors. Bouzas Maneiro could only match Gauff’s first-serve numbers but managed her unforced errors more effectively (41) and converted 9 of 12 break points.
Still, Gauff refused to go quietly despite her struggles. She rallied from 4-1 down to take the second set in a tiebreak and appeared poised for a remarkable comeback. But Bouzas Maneiro broke to open the decider and never looked back, racing to a 4-0 lead after saving two break points in a five-deuce game.
After 2 hours and 12 minutes, Bouzas Maneiro closed out the match with a third-set bagel, earning a bit of redemption after being blanked in a deciding set by Sierra earlier in the week, and secured the biggest win of her career.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Two-time major singles champion Barbora Krejcikova scored a winning United Cup debut on Monday in a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Norway’s Malene Helgo to give Czechia an early 1-0 lead in Group D Sydney action.
The former World No. 2 comes into the 2026 WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz season ranked No. 65 in the PIF WTA Rankings after another bout with injury to close 2025. She reached the quarter-finals of the US Open in September, a watershed moment in her season that only began in May after dealing with a recurring back injury.
Putting Team Czechia on the scoreboard 📋 pic.twitter.com/EihT4A8bFV
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 5, 2026
Krejcikova then unfortunately dealt with physical problems again, suffering a knee injury against McCartney Kessler in the third round of the China Open. She retired from that match, later revealing her injury was worse than previously thought. Krejcikova also retired from her first match at the WTA 125 in Limoges in December.
Krejcikova’s season-opening match against World No. 532 Helgo proved to be an ideal return.
“I didn’t play for a long period, and the injury that I had was really tough and very unfortunate,” Krejcikova said. “I’m really happy that I’m here, that I can play, that I can enjoy it, that I can compete, and I’m really happy that I can finally finish a match.”
Helgo, 26, has punched above her weight in the United Cup in the past. She pushed both Caroline Garcia and Donna Vekic to three sets in 2024 and took advantage of a slow start by Krejcikova to open up an early 3-1 lead.
But then, Krejcikova, who played the one-hour, 38-minute match with supportive wrapping on her left knee, erased a break point opportunity in a five-deuce fifth game and righted the ship by winning eight of the next nine games.
“The knee is better. It took some time, but it’s improving every day and I’m very happy with that,” Krejcikova said.
In men’s singles, World No. 19 Jakub Mensik, also a first-time United Cup participant, will look to clinch victory for Czechia against Casper Ruud.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Novak Djokovic says he has ended his involvement with the Professional Tennis Players Association that he co-founded, expressing concerns over “transparency and governance”.
Flavio Cobolli again embraced the responsibility of the moment on Sunday at the United Cup in Perth, where he sent Italy to a deciding mixed-doubles rubber against Switzerland.
The 23-year-old, who helped steer Italy to its third consecutive Davis Cup title in November, produced a gutsy finish to withstand spirited 40-year-old Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(4) after two hours, 50 minutes and level the tie at 1-1.
Belinda Bencic had earlier scored a statement straight-sets win over Jasmine Paolini to give Switzerland the lead before Cobolli fought back. The Swiss could still, however, finish top of Group C on Sunday and qualify for the quarter-finals if they win the tie, which will now be settled in mixed doubles.
Wawrinka, contesting his final season on Tour, pulled off a dramatic third-set tie-break win over Arthur Rinderknech on Saturday. The three-time major champion remained competitive throughout much of the match against Cobolli, but was unable to generate a break point as the Italian maintained his composure.
Wawrinka and Cobolli treated the RAC Arena crowd to a captivating duel deep into the deciding set, highlighted by a moment of magic from Cobolli, who steadied himself under pressure and fired a stunning forehand winner on the run to claim a mini-break in a tense final-set tie-break en route to improving to 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
[NO 1 CLUB]Earlier, Bencic put Switzerland in prime position to secure their spot in the United Cup quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over World No. 3 Paolini to take a 1-0 lead in the tie.
“I’m really happy with today’s match,” Bencic said on-court after the one hour and 53 minute match. “I lost to her really close at the end of last season. I really had to organize my mind that ‘now it’s my time, I can do it.’ I thought it was a bit mental today.”
Bencic is now 2-0 in singles, following her 6-2, 6-4 win over Leolia Jeanjean Saturday. Paolini will face Jeanjean in Italy’s next tie against France.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Frances Tiafoe and Learner Tien may have closed the 2025 season on very different notes, but both began the new year in impressive fashion on Sunday at the Brisbane International presented by ANZ.
After losing his final five matches of 2025, Tiafoe responded with a composed 6-2, 6-2 victory over Aleksandar Vukic. The World No. 30 struck 12 winners while committing just eight unforced errors in a tidy 60-minute display.
“It’s good to be back in Brisbane,” said Tiafoe, who also attended the Brisbane Heat cricket match on Friday. “I think I had one of the worst first bowls in history… But that was a lot of fun. It was a great first cricket experience for me.”
[NO 1 CLUB]Tiafoe, the former No. 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, now awaits a second-round meeting with top seed Daniil Medvedev or Marton Fucsovics.
Tien was also a winner on Day 1 in Brisbane. The 20-year-old earned a hard-fought 7-6(4), 6-3 win over Camilo Ugo Carabelli, continuing on from the form with which he won consecutive titles in Metz and at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF to end 2025.
“It was a lot harder of a match than the score may seem,” said Tien, who is making his Brisbane debut. “First win of the year… I’m really happy to kickstart my Aussie swing with a win and I’m feeling good. It feels crazy that it was already a year ago the last time I was here [in Australia]. I have really great memories here, dating back to juniors, and I’m super happy to be back.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]A farewell tour?
That’s not a phrase that sits well with Stan Wawrinka as he begins his 25th and final season on the ATP Tour.
Send your well wishes and accolades and they will be received politely and with appreciation. But Switzerland’s other tennis treasure is determined to crown – rather than tarnish – one of the finest careers of the past 20 years by doing in 2026 what he does best: fighting with all his might to win as many matches as possible.
For evidence, look no further than Wawrinka’s season opener at the United Cup in Perth: Toiling for three hours and 18 minutes in baking heat, the 40-year-old rallied from a set down to upset Top 30 Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in a third-set tie-break. It was a spirited victory – the 583rd of his career – that backed up his comments just one day earlier to ATPTour.com.
“I’m good with my decision to announce this is my last year, but I’m not doing a year just to say goodbye,” Wawrinka said. “I’m a competitor. I want to push my limit, I want to still fight against good players. I want to still win matches. I want to try to be back at the Top 100 at 40 years old.
“Throughout my career I do feel like I maximised everything I could; that always has been my goal and it’s still on for the last year. It was always to push my own limits and I achieved way more than I could dream when I was young.”
Despite more than two decades on Tour, the three-time Grand Slam champion remains a fierce competitor at his core. Why else would he grind through 29 ATP Challenger matches in 2025 as his PIF ATP Ranking [now 157] languished well outside the Top 100 and kept him off the main tour for extended periods?
“He likes the hard work and the tough lifestyle, pushing his body to the physical and mental limits,” said longtime coach Magnus Norman this week in Perth. “And he likes to perform in front of people. At the Napoli Challenger last year the crowd was really into the matches. For him it doesn’t matter if it’s a Challenger or a Grand Slam.”
Wawrinka, a winner of 16 titles, concurs: “I’m lucky enough to have had the chance to win Slams and play on the biggest stages, but just the emotion I get from playing a match, the feeling from the competition and playing in front of people is the same even when you play on the small courts. When you’re passionate about what you’re doing, the stadium doesn’t matter.”
ATP Challengers are a far cry from the centre courts of Roland Garros and the Australian and US Opens where Wawrinka inked his legacy. With Norman by his side, Wawrinka won majors for three consecutive years between 2014-2016: at Melbourne Park in 2014, Roland Garros in 2015 and in the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2016.
Norman shared a favourite memory of Wawrinka’s final Grand Slam triumph, a four-set win over Novak Djokovic in the 2016 US Open final. As the referee called the finalists to assemble for their escort to the court, the Swede delivered an emotional speech.
“He had been playing very good tennis and I thought he would have a good match, but against Novak you’re not sure if it will be enough,” Norman said. “I told him that no matter what happens, that I’m so proud of what he had done.”
The words moved Wawrinka to tears, which then brought Norman to tears.
“The referee is calling the match and we’re both in the lockerroom crying. But it was what we needed because there had been a lot of tension. It was a little bit of a release for both of us,” Norman added.
<img alt=”2016 US Open final” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/01/04/09/03/wawrina-djokovic-us-open-2016.jpg” />
Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic embrace after the 2016 US Open final. Photo: Getty Images.
For his part, Wawrinka said that his earlier Grand Slam final victory over Djokovic at Roland Garros in 2015 remains his favourite.
“They all are really special in different ways,” he said. “Australia was where I won my first Slam [against Rafael Nadal] the year after I lost the tough match to Novak in five sets. For me that was a turning point in my career.
“But if I had to pick one, I will take the French Open. I grew up in the French part of Switzerland and when I was young, I was watching the tournament every summer. It was easy to watch French Open all day long and I had friends and family coming because it’s really close to home.
“I grew up playing on clay, so for many reasons, I will pick this one.”
Victory over Djokovic on Court Philippe-Chatrier included one of the most iconic moments in modern Grand Slam finals: an around-the-net topspin backhand winner from deep and wide behind the baseline that left fans gobsmacked.
“It’s an amazing memory of course; at that moment I was really feeling good. That was one set all and it was a break for me in the third. I was really feeling and playing the way I wanted to.
“I saw the ball. I saw the gap. I went for it.
“In that moment you just feel so good because it’s already an amazing achievement to be in the French Open final and then to hit that shot and play so well against Novak Djokovic is something I’ll always remember.”
<img alt=”Stan Wawrinka in action at Roland Garros in 2015.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/01/04/05/43/wawrinka-feature-1e.jpg” />
Wawrinka in action at the 2015 Roland Garros. Photo: Getty Images.
Wawrinka has a combined 12-63 record against the Big Three – Nadal (3-19), Federer (3-23), Djokovic (6-21) – but many of the victories came when they counted most. In Grand Slam finals he was 3-1.
“In his prime, if Stan had a good day no-one was safe,” Norman said. “He could hit winners from both sides from two to three metres behind the baseline. He was serving and moving well, was physically strong.
“He was really good in the big moments. Grand Slam champions have something that other players don’t have. I was in a Grand Slam final and the moment got to me. He could handle those situations. I think you’re born with it.”
Wawrinka beat Nadal in the 2014 Australian Open, his first major title
He beat Djokovic in the 2015 Roland Garros final and the 2016 US Open final. In 2014 he pipped the Serbian 9-7 in the fifth set of the Australian Open quarter-finals en route to the title win over Nadal, one year after Djokovic edged him 12-10 in the fifth in the Australian Open fourth round.
<img alt=”Stan Wawrinka won the Australian Open in 2014.” style=”width:100%px;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/01/04/05/32/wawrinka-feature-1d.jpg” />
Wawrinka with the trophy after winning the Australian Open in 2014. Photo: Getty Images.
Wawrinka beat Federer in the 2015 Roland Garros quarter-finals en route to the title and in the 2014 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final, his lone Masters 1000 title.
Who was the toughest to beat?
“All three were really difficult to play against,” he said. “You can see my record against them: I lost more than 20 times to each of them, but of course Rafa especially on clay was the toughest with him hitting high forehands into my one-handed backhand, constantly putting pressure. It’s tough to generate something from there and put him under pressure. And then he had the lefty serve.”
Having played through the Big Three era, Wawrinka believes the new Big Two dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner is likely to endure, at least in the short to medium term.
“I do believe we are in the Carlos and Jannik era; they’ve been proving that for a few years their level is higher than the rest of the players,” said Wawrinka. “I’m not sure we will have a player to fight against them constantly, but for sure they’re not gonna win every single title all the time.
“I still believe they’re gonna dominate this sport for the next many years. It will be really interesting to see where they’re gonna end up in 5-10 years or 15 years. The thing is to challenge the Novak records, you need to last 15 years at least.”
For all the success on the court, Norman is equally, if not more, proud of the man Wawrinka has been off the court.
“He’s like a normal good guy who has always stuck to his values,” said the former World No. 2 and Roland Garros finalist. “He was always very humble and treated everyone the same whether he was winning or losing. I think that’s a big part of why we are together after so many years. He respects everyone whether it’s the ballkids, a World No. 1 or the cleaning lady.”
<img alt=”Stan Wawrinka and coach Magnus Norman celebrate their 2015 Roland Garros triumph.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/01/04/08/58/wawrinka-norman-french-2015.jpg” />
Stan Wawrinka and coach Magnus Norman celebrate their 2015 Roland Garros triumph. Photo: Getty Images.
Felix Auger-Aliassime carried his strong 2025 form into the new season with a commanding tie-clinching victory for Canada against China on Sunday at the United Cup in Sydney.
The 25-year-old, at a career-high No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings, overpowered Zhang Zhizhen 6-4, 6-4 with an authoritative, big-hitting performance. The win — his first opening victory of a season since 2021 — followed an impressive comeback earlier from 19-year-old Victoria Mboko, sealing an unassailable 2-0 lead for Canada.
“I can be very pleased with this first match of the year,” said Auger-Aliassime. “Tennis is about rhythm, playing important points under pressure, so you never know what to expect. I woke up this morning hoping for the best, and then I played some of my best tennis.”
Auger-Aliassime and Mboko then ensured a 3-0 sweep by teaming to defeat Xiaodi You and Rigele Te 6-1, 6-3 in the mixed doubles rubber.
Auger-Aliassime ended the 2025 season in fine form, highlighted by a semi-final run at the US Open, a title at the ATP 250 in Brussels and a last-four finish at the prestigious Nitto ATP Finals. He showed no signs of slowing down as he launched his 2026 campaign.
His serve proved especially decisive against Zhang, as he won 87 per cent (33/38) points behind his first delivery and saved the only break point he faced to level their Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 1-1.
Moooood in Sydney 😍#UnitedCup pic.twitter.com/xVYwuzsWvC
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 4, 2026
Earlier, Mboko rallied from a set down on her United Cup debut to defeat Lin Zhu 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 in 1 hour, 39 minutes. Zhu had won their only previous meeting, but Mboko responded with an emphatic finish.
It was Mboko’s sixth consecutive win on the WTA Tour after she ended 2025 on a five-match winning streak that earned her the second WTA Tour title of her season in Hong Kong.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]