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Four Aussies took to the courts on day 1 of the Australian Open.
Talia Gibson was the first player to claim a win at the 2026 edition. She raced to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Anna Blinkova.
In 2025 Blinkova also opened with a 1-6 set, back then it was Daria Saville. Blinkova was able to recover to win the match in three sets.
Gibson wasn’t letting that happen today. The Australian broke her opponent in the 1st, 5th and 7th games of the first set.
Blinkova looked to fight back in the second set and she held break point at 30-40 in the first game of set two. An Ace saved the game for Gibson.
Gibson broke in game two and consolidated the break to lead 3-0.
In the sixth game Blinkova had to fight off three break points before finally winning that game to trail 2-4.
Blinkova finally got a break of serve to make it 3-4 before Gibson again broke to lead 5-3.
When serving for the match Gibson hit four winners, but also had a double fault.
Tristan Schoolkate took on Corentin Moutet of France. It was the Frenchman who look more impressive through most of the match.
Schoolkate just was not taking his chances. He had a chance to get back on serve in the 10th game of the first set but could not convert a break point.
Moutet appeared to be cramping in the third set when leading 3-0. Schoolkate recoved to get back to 3-3. Moutet seemed to improve a bit and he managed to edge ahead 4-3 before breaking the Australian to love.
Moutet then served out the match to claim a 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-3 victory.
Jason Kubler took Frances Tiafoe to a tie-breaker in the opening set. It was Kubler that didn’t offer a break point in the set while having two break point opportunities.
Tiafoe was firing down the Aces including 12-3 in the second set. The American broke serve twice, but was also broken once himself.
Tiafoe raced away with the match, breaking Kubler twice in the second set to secure a comfortable 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-2 win.
The final match of the night saw Adam Walton face the world no. 1 Carlos Alcaraz on Rod Laver Arena.
Walton made Alcaraz work hard for the win. The Spaniard taking the match 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-2 in a bit over two hours.
In the second set Walton had broken Alcaraz and was serving to take a 4-1 lead. An unforced error at 40-30 would prove costly. Alcaraz took the game and eventually the set was decided by a tie-breaker.
In the third set Alcaraz had worn down his oppenent and he cruised to victory.
So at the end of day 1 it was Gibson that provided the highlights, being the sole Australian to move onto round 2.