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Maestrelli ecstatic for Djokovic showdown: 'One of the most exciting things of my life'

  • Posted: Jan 21, 2026

The look on Francesco Maestrelli’s face said it all Monday at Melbourne Park. The Italian had just defeated Terence Atmane in the first round of the Australian Open and he understandably struggled to hold back his tears.

“Very, very emotional. I dreamed a lot about these matches and for me, it was a dream to participate in the first [major main draw] of my career,” Maestrelli told ATPTour.com. “I didn’t imagine winning a five-set match on my debut on the Tour, and I’m so excited and so happy.”

It was not only Maestrelli’s first major main draw match, but just his second tour-level match overall. The Pisa native’s only previous ATP Tour clash came in October 2022 in Florence. Now the 23-year-old will step straight into the spotlight.

Maestrelli will next take on 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic. The Italian said he has watched the Serbian “millions of times”.

“They told me that there was the chance to play Djokovic and it will be one of the most exciting things of my life,” Maestrelli said. “It’s crazy to have the chance to see his name close to mine in an official match and let’s see. I will try to do my best to try to win. I know that’s so complicated, but that’s it.”

The four-time ATP Challenger champion has never practised with Djokovic or had a formal conversation with him. Maestrelli has said “Ciao!” to the Serbian a few times over the years, but he will have to be ready to take on the 24-time major titlist Thursday in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash.

“That’s one of the players that doesn’t have so [many] weak points,” Maestrelli said. “It will be so difficult to prepare for the match and I think we’re going to try to put all that I have on the court and it’s going to be tough.”

Maestrelli showed the world his talent at an early age, breaking into the Top 200 of the PIF ATP Rankings in September 2022 as a 19-year-old. But it took more than three years for him to move into the Top 150.

“That’s not easy, because when you do big results when you’re young, it’s something easier. You don’t know so much about the Tour, then you go and play,” Maestrelli said. “But you have to know also there are bad moments when the results don’t come. You have to struggle, you have to stay [through] very big difficulties and try to improve with that.”

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Maestrelli trained at the Italian Federation’s local centre since he was 16. But two years ago, Maestrelli moved a two-hour drive away from Pisa to Sinalunga, where he trains under Giovanni Galuppo and Gabrio Castrichella.

“It was so exciting because it was a new experience for me and it’s so good to share this moment with them,” Maestrelli said. “I’m so scared about changes, but I thought that was the right moment to do it. Then I tried to go and [not] think about it, and maybe, [now that it is] two years later, I can say that it was the right decision.”

Outside of tennis, Maestrelli enjoys playing basketball. His favourite player is Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball because of his creativity on the court. The Italian also loves watching hometown football team Pisa Sporting Club.

“I’m a normal guy, and I’m trying to do my best on what I love: tennis,” Maestrelli said. “I’m trying to put everything out there, and I’m a tall guy. I’m going to try to serve as fast as possible, because I know that in the rallies, maybe he is better than me. But I don’t know, let’s see.”

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Mario Ancic on Michael Zheng: 'It's exceptional what he's doing'

  • Posted: Jan 20, 2026

One of the best stories of the Australian Open has been the breakthrough of Michael Zheng, the Columbia University senior who qualified for his first major main draw before upsetting Sebastian Korda to reach the second round.

The 21-year-old is not the only person who has a connection with both Columbia and the ATP Tour. Mario Ancic, the former No. 7 player in the PIF ATP Rankings who stunned Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2002 and made the semi-finals two years later, attended Columbia Law School and graduated in 2015.

The Croatian remains based in New York as a Principal at the private equity company One Equity Partners. The 41-year-old follows the Columbia tennis team closely and over the years and has gotten to know its players, including Zheng.

“I think it’s exceptional what he’s doing, and he’s a very humble person, very humble kid,” Ancic told ATPTour.com. “What all these guys are doing: Going to classes — very intense — competing amongst the best and the brightest in the country and internationally, and then still committing to being part of the programme that’s Top 10 in the country is nothing short of inspirational.”

Ancic is in close contact with head coach Howard Endelman and heard about Zheng before he even began playing for the Ivy League institution. In 2022, Zheng reached the Wimbledon boys’ singles final.

“He came heavily recruited. I believe he already had some great results in junior Grand Slams and I was very excited to see that somebody with a lot of success already at ITF [level] committed to come to play for Columbia,” Ancic said. “I actually remember him since he was a freshman. We talked, I met his family. He has a great family behind him and it was obviously very exciting to speak to him and play with him and see his success since.”

Ancic always thought the two-time NCAA singles champion had a great game entering college, and got the sense that Zheng was a hard worker who was very committed.

“He never rushed anything. I see a lot of junior players are like, ‘I’ve got to be on ATP, I’ve got to do this, I’ve got to do that’. He took time to develop his game,” Ancic said. “I think he developed physically, which is always very important.”

The Croatian pointed to Zheng’s work to become stronger and add muscle with the help of the Columbia coaching staff as important to his development as a player.

“I think that helped him also to develop some bigger shots and more weapons. His questions were always, ‘What do I need to do so I can compete with professionals?’” Ancic said. “I’ve seen him develop that game, develop bigger shots, a bigger game that can effectively help him ‘hurt’ other players with some bigger weapons. And I think that’s a testament to him, his family, and the programme.”

Not only does Ancic understand the tennis side of what Zheng is going through, but he is one of few who can put his feet in his fellow Lion’s academic shoes. Not only has Zheng been training hard to improve on the tennis court, but he has done so while shining in the classroom.

“It’s a commitment. You live in New York. They have classes, they live on campus. It’s on 116th Street, and the tennis courts are on 218th Street. So it’s not like everything is just there. You have to commute,” Ancic said. “New York is not the easiest city to commute [in], so the days are long. I know the guys… the team would be studying past midnight, early mornings, getting ready for classes, but still fully committed to do their best at the tennis court.

“Commuting back and forth between the tennis centre and the campus, and just going through the rigorous academic program is just something that is remarkable and what Michael was able to achieve to play at that level going through this programme and just representing the Lions in the best possible ways, it just makes us all very proud.”

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Ancic understands what it takes to succeed on and off the court. When a player who beat Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray glows about someone like he did about Zheng — who next faces Corentin Moutet in Melbourne — it speaks volumes.

“He’s always had a great demeanour about him, believing in himself and always giving his best, fighting. You always knew with Michael that he’s going to give it all on the court. That’s just something that always resonated with me when I was watching,” Ancic said. “This kid is a true example of a student-athlete. He’s committed to the programme, he’s committed to the classes, and he’s committed to the team in a sense that every time I watch him play, he always would give 100 per cent.

“Of course, when you have that mentality, there’s many times in a tennis match where you have this opportunity to win them. If you are stable, if you are mentally strong, opportunities arise in a tennis match. He always had that talent within himself.”

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Another Croatian, former World No. 3 Marin Cilic, watched 30 minutes of Zheng’s opening win against Korda. Cilic said about the college star: “Really, really interesting. A player [who] has got a very diverse game. There are a lot of things that he does well. You still see that it’s a work in progress, that let’s say if he works himself the next two, three, four years, that he can definitely develop into a great player. What I loved about [him] was [he was] playing for the first time in a Grand Slam, playing a guy, Sebastian, who is a fantastic player, and having such incredible composure and also a physical ability and mental ability to stay and to win in five.”

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Sinner details the one shot he ‘needs to improve’ amid Australian Open campaign

  • Posted: Jan 20, 2026

Even when you are the No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings and a two-time defending Australian Open champion, there is always room for improvement. Just ask Jannik Sinner.

The 24-year-old advanced to the second round at Melbourne Park on Tuesday when Hugo Gaston retired with Sinner leading 6-2, 6-1 after 68 minutes. Following the match, Sinner offered insight into the technical tweaks he has been making to his serve toward the end of last season and throughout the offseason. It’s a stroke he believes still holds untapped potential.

“It’s not only [since] the US Open,” Sinner said when asked about the timestamp of the service-motion changes. “I felt like the serve was and still is a shot where I need to improve. It’s the only shot we have where we can do everything by ourselves. There is a lot of room to improve.

“We changed a little bit the motion, the rhythm of the serve. Before it was a bit too fast in the beginning. Now it’s a bit slower. The toss usually was a bit more in front, a bit on the right. Now it’s a bit more back and over the head.”

Those refinements come despite Sinner finishing 2025 as the Serve Leader, according to Infosys ATP Stats, which examines a player’s serving dominance through metrics such as first-serve points won, serve effectiveness and aces. It’s an area of strength that underpinned his six-title season, highlighted by his second consecutive Nitto ATP Finals crown.

Yet for the Italian, marginal gains on serve could prove decisive as he looks to sustain his dominance and pursue the longer-term objective of reclaiming the World No. 1 position from rival Carlos Alcaraz.

“At times I still lose it [the toss]. It’s not a shot where I feel very safe,” Sinner continued. “But at the same time we are working on that. It is one of if not the most important shots we have because it can give you so many great things. So let’s see how I’m going to serve this season.”

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Beyond the technical elements, Sinner also continues to invest in the mental side of his game, maintaining a close working relationship with renowned mental coach Dr. Riccardo Ceccarelli. They have built a consistent dialogue aimed at fine-tuning Sinner’s mindset across different phases of the season.

“We are in contact trying to understand and also working on a couple of things,” Sinner said of Ceccarelli. “I have my home kit with me, so whenever I need to work on, whenever I feel like, I can work with that.

“It goes a bit by period: How I feel also and what mental statement I am in. For sure there is still some room to improve. I’ve been in contact with him consistently. It’s good to have a stable person and he understands me now also a little bit better. By time we understand each other better. I understand his work ethic. We try to work on that.”

Sinner is aiming to become just the second man in the Open Era to win three consecutive Australian Open titles, following Novak Djokovic, who achieved the feat in 2011–13 and again from 2019–21. Next up for the Italian in Melbourne is Australian wild card James Duckworth, whom Sinner leads 2-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

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Monfils to crowd after last Australian Open match: ‘Thanks for this amazing ride’

  • Posted: Jan 20, 2026

Gael Monfils shared an emotional moment with fans Tuesday at the Australian Open after his final appearance at the hard-court major came to a close.

Home qualifier Dane Sweeny overcame the Frenchman 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 inside Kia Arena, where the 39-year-old Monfils was then invited to address the crowd by tournament director Craig Tiley.

“First of all, thank you so much. For me, my journey here with you guys started in 2003, when I came here for the first time,” said Monfils, who has confirmed that he will retire at the end of the season. “Now we are in 2026 and somehow it is the finish line but thank you so much for this amazing ride. You have been unbelievable, so thank you so much.”

Monfils will finish his career with a 37-20 record at Melbourne Park, where his best results were quarter-final runs in 2016 and 2022.

“I’ve got a lot of great memories here. A couple of big battles. Quarters, fourth round, even today was almost four hours,” said the former No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings. “For Dane, you guys did an amazing job [supporting him]. I read his story. This kid got hurt, so I really wish [him] good luck for the next one, because he is playing very good. Good luck to him.

“I am very grateful. I’ve been very lucky to play here for many years, so lastly thank you very much, merci beaucoup, a bientot les amis (thank you very much, see you soon, friends).”

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Sinner advances to Australian Open R2 after Gaston retires

  • Posted: Jan 20, 2026

Jannik Sinner advanced to the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday night after Hugo Gaston retired due to illness when dropping the second set.

The two-time defending champion, Sinner, was firmly in control, leading 6-2, 6-1, when the Frenchman — who called the doctor following the opening set — could not continue inside Rod Laver Arena.

“I saw that he was not serving with a very high pace, especially in the second set, but it’s not a way you want to win the match,” said Sinner, who is now 3-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Gaston. “He’s such a talented player, so I knew I had to play at a very high level, try to be aggressive as possible, which I’ve done. So I’m very happy, very happy to be back here.”

Sinner is aiming to become just the second man in the Open Era to claim three consecutive Australian Open titles, following Novak Djokovic’s title runs from 2011-13 and 2019-21. He will face lucky loser Dino Prizmic or Australian wild card James Duckworth in the next round.

In the sixth game of the match, Sinner produced a sublime drop shot to earn a break point, sending Gaston sprawling in a desperate attempt to reach the ball. Sinner checked on his opponent at the net, though Gaston appeared uninjured, and the subsequent medical timeout seemed to be unrelated to the fall.

“I felt very prepared… I’m very happy with how I started off today,” Sinner added. “Of course there was a bit of tension, but now this is time to enjoy it. We practise for moments like this, so it’s great to be back here.”

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Sinner faced immediate pressure in the opening game, slipping to 0/40 on serve, but it proved little more than an extended warm-up. The Italian calmly erased all three break points and did not face another, according to Infosys Stats, before advancing after 68 minutes.

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