De Minaur, Medvedev, and Gauff advance in straight sets; Auger-Aliassime retires with injury

VIDEO SHOWS: HIGHLIGHTS FROM AUSTRALIAN OPEN WINS BY ALEX DE MINAUR, DANIIL MEDVEDEV, NUNO BORGES UPSET OF FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME IN WALKOVER, COCO GAUFF. MATCH POINT FROM WINS BY ANDREY RUBLEV, JESSICA PEGULA, MAGDA LINETTE UPSET OF EMMA NAVARRO AND PEYTON STEARNS UPSET OF SOFIA KENIN SHOWS: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (JANUARY 19, 2026) (TENNIS AUSTRALIA – See restrictions) 1. AERIAL OF FANS LINED UP AT ENTRANCE TO MELBOURNE PARK GROUNDS ALEX DE MINAUR (AUSTRALIA) V MACKENZIE MCDONALD (USA) 1ST SET 2. DE MINAUR WITH ACE TO WIN SET 6-2 2ND SET 3. DE MINAUR WITH FOREHAND WINNER 3RD SET 4. DE MINAUR WITH VOLLEY WINNER 5. MCDONALD HITS INTO NET ON MATCH POINT, DE MINAUR BREAKS SERVE TO WIN 6-2 6-2 6-3 6. DE MINAUR WAVING TO CROWD FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME (CANADA) V NUNO BORGES (PORTUGAL) 1ST SET 7. AUGER-ALIASSIME WITH FOREHAND WINNER TO WIN GAME AND TAKE 4-2 LEAD 2ND SET 8. AUGER-ALIASSIME RETURNS SERVE LONG, BORGES WINS SET 6-4 TO EVEN MATCH 1-1 4TH SET 9. AUGER-ALIASSIME HITS LONG, THEN RETIRES FROM MATCH WITH INJURY, BORGES WINS 3-6 6-4 6-4 0-0 DANIIL MEDVEDEV (RUSSIA) V JESPER DE JONG (NETHERLANDS) 3RD SET 10. MEDVEDEV WITH DROP SHOT WINNER, HE WOULD GO ON TO BREAK SERVE AND TAKE 2-1 LEAD 11. DE JONGE WITH FOREHAND WINNER TO BREAK SERVE AND FORCE TIEBREAKER 12. MEDVEDEV WITH NICE SERVE RETURN ON MATCH POINT TO WIN 7-5 6-2 7-6(1) 13. MEDVEDEV WAVING TO CROWD ANDREY RUBLEV (RUSSIA) V MATTEO ARNALDI 14. MATCH POINT – ARNALDI DOUBLE FAULTS, RUBLEV WINS 6-4 6-2 6-3 COCO GAUFF (USA) V KAMILA RAKHIMOVA (UZBEKISTAN) 1ST SET 15. RAHKIMOVA WITH LOB BUT GAUFF CHASES IT DOWN AND THEN WINS POINT WITH DROP SHOT 16. GAUFF WITH FOREHAND WINNER TO BREAK SERVE AND TAKE 4-1 LEAD 2ND SET 17. RAKHIMOVA WITH FOREHAND BUT GAUFF STRETCHES FOR DROP SHOT WINNER  18. RAKHIMOVA HITS LONG ON MATCH POINT, GAUFF WINS 6-2 6-3 19. GAUFF WAVING TO CROWD JESSICA PEGULA (USA) V ANASTASIA ZAKHAROVA (RUSSIA) 20. MATCH POINT – PEGULA WITH NICE SERVE RETURN TO BREAK SERVE AND WIN 6-2 6-1 EMMA NAVARRO (USA) V MAGDA LINETTE (POLAND) 21. MATCH POINT – LINETTE WITH FOREHAND WINNER TO BREAK SERVE AND WIN MATCH 3-6 6-3 6-3 22. LINETTE WAVING TO CROWD SOFIA KENIN (USA) V PEYTON STEARNS (USA) 23. MATCH POINT – STEARNS WITH ACE TO WIN 6-3 6-2 STORY: Next to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, the top two players in the world, Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime was the hottest player on the ATP Tour in the closing months of 2025. After winning only two matches in the first three majors of the year, the 25-year-old seemingly out of nowhere reached the semifinals of the 2025 U.S. Open. In the fall, Auger-Aliassime won in Brussels, reached the finals in Paris and got into the year-end ATP Finals, where he fell in the semifinals to Alcaraz. But the injury bug, which has plagued the lanky, big ball-striker in the past, bit him in the first round of the 2026 Australian Open on Monday (January 19) in Melbourne. The seventh-seeded Auger-Aliassime had to retire, while trailing two sets to one, to Portugal's Nuno Borges, due to persistent leg cramps. Borges advanced with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, retired, triumph. Auger-Aliassime called a pair of medical timeouts, once late in the third set and again before the start of the fourth set as trainers worked on his left leg. But after playing two points in the fourth set, he waved the white flag. Two other seeded players won in straight sets in the afternoon session on the second day of competition in Melbourne. No. 11 Danill Medvedev of Russia defeated the Netherlands' Jesper de Jong, 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (2), while No. 19 Tommy Paul knocked off countryman Aleksandar Kovacevic, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. There were 11 breaks of service in Medvedev's match, but the three-time finalist in Australia overcame his four lost serves with 47 winners and outstanding net play, where he won 33 of 44 points. Paul was brilliant on serve, smashing 20 aces with no double faults. He did not face a break point in the match and produced 38 winners to only 16 unforced errors. Home favorite and sixth-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia cruised past lucky loser Mackenzie McDonald, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in 1 hour, 48 minutes. de Minaur struggled on his first serve, only getting 52% efficiency, but McDonald could not take advantage, committing 42 unforced errors in the match. No. 13 Andrey Rublev of Russia captured a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Italy's Matteo Arnaldi, but No. 24 Arthur Rinderknech of France dropped a 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-4 decision to Hungary's Fabian Marozsan. Big-serving Reilly Opelka cracked 23 aces in a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Norway qualifier Nicolai Budkov Kjaier. Also advancing in four-set matches were China's Juncheng Shang, a winner over Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut, and Kazakhstan's Alexander Shevchenko, who defeated Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer. (Production: David Grip)

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