Gauff and Bencic each secured a point to save the day, with the young Hong Kong player advancing to the quarterfinals in two events, while Sabalenka earned her second consecutive win and awaits Keys.

Three minutes daily to keep up with world tennis news. Hello tennis fans, today is Thursday, January 8, 2026. Welcome to the midday news report brought to you by "Tennis Home."

Last night Beijing time, the sixth day of the 2026 United Cup mixed team tennis event ended, deciding the two semifinal places in the Perth zone. In the first quarterfinal, the USA narrowly defeated Greece 2-1, with Gauff winning a point each in singles and mixed doubles to lead her team into the semifinals. The match scores were Gauff 6-3, 6-2 over Sakari; Fritz 4-6, 5-7 to Tsitsipas; and C. Harrison/Gauff 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 over Tsitsipas/Sakari.

The second quarterfinal also came down to mixed doubles. Switzerland secured their semifinal spot by defeating Argentina 2-1, with Bencic earning two points in singles and doubles. The detailed scores were Bencic 6-2, 6-2 against Zhelia; Wawrinka 5-7, 4-6 to Baez; and Bencic/Paolo 6-3, 6-3 over Carlé/Andreozzi.

This afternoon Beijing time, the quarterfinals in the Sydney division will commence, with Belgium facing the Czech Republic first. The player lists released so far for both teams remain largely the same as during the group stage.

Let's turn to other tournaments. Last night Beijing time, the ATP250 Hong Kong Open finished its third day, where two Chinese players in the singles second round went one win and one loss. Hong Kong's young talent Huang Zelin staged a comeback to defeat sixth seed Canadian Diallo 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 and reached his first career tour-level quarterfinal.

Two days ago, he also teamed with Diallo to win their first-round doubles match. This means Huang Zelin has advanced to the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles—an achievement worth celebrating! In the singles quarterfinal, he will face top seed and Italian star Musetti, marking a true challenge ahead!

Meanwhile, Wu Yibing won the first set 6-3 but was then overturned by Russian star Rublev, who took the next two sets 6-2, 6-1, resulting in Wu missing out on the quarterfinals.

ATP250 Brisbane: Russian star Medvedev showed excellent form, defeating American youngster Tiafoe 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals. He will face Poland’s Majchrzak for a semifinal berth, with Majchrzak having narrowly beaten American giant Opelka 6-7(2), 7-6(7), 7-6(8) in a triple tiebreak thriller.

WTA500 Brisbane: In the second-round singles match, sixth seed Russian rising star Mira Andreeva came from behind to defeat local qualifier Gadecki 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in her debut. Next, she will face ninth seed Czech newcomer Noskova, who battled past Poland’s Fletcher 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4.

This morning Beijing time, in the singles third round, top seed and defending champion Sabalenka won convincingly 6-3, 6-3 over Romania’s Costea, becoming the first to reach the quarterfinals and now awaits the winner between Keys and Schneider.

WTA250 Auckland: In a key second-round singles match, seventh seed and China’s No. 2 Wang Xinyu defeated Mexico’s top player Zarazua 7-5, 6-4 to secure a quarterfinal spot. She will next compete against Britain’s Jones for a place in the semifinals. Fourth seed and Philippines’ top player Ireila dominated Croatia’s Maskinko 6-0, 6-2 to advance strongly to the quarterfinals.

In doubles action, in a quarterfinal match, second seeds the Chinese-French duo Guo Hanyu and Mulanovich defeated Aoyama/Shuko and Rinat 6-1, 6-4 to move into the semifinals. They then received a walkover from opponents McNally and Zeng Limei, securing a spot in the final without playing.

Lastly, let's have a guess and recognition game. The following picture shows a player practicing his serve. Without any hints, can you identify who he is?

In the last edition’s guessing game, tennis fans gave the correct answer. Yes, the person in the photo is Poland’s top player Hurkacz. Here is the full image.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: The Independent)