In a fierce five-player battle in the final round, Abing broke through first; the Australian Open officially announced the seed list, and Wang Meiren lost singles and withdrew from doubles.

Three minutes daily to catch up on global tennis news. Hello tennis fans, today is Thursday, January 15, 2026. Welcome to the news midday report brought to you by "Tennis Home."

We begin with the 2026 Australian Open singles qualifying. Last night Beijing time, Chinese players completed their second-round qualifying matches; except for Ma Yexin's defeat, the other five players all won and moved on to the final round. Among them, Wu Yibing defeated Mejia 6-4, 6-4; Zhu Lin beat Kasintseva 6-1, 6-2; Huang Zelin won over Ruiz 7-6, 6-0; Bai Zhuoxuan defeated Paquet 6-1, 6-2; Yuan Yue triumphed 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 against Kalay.

This morning Beijing time, the final qualifying round began, with the Chinese contingent's five matches starting almost simultaneously. As of this report, Wu Yibing defeated Boye 6-3, 6-2 in straight sets, becoming the first to qualify for the main draw. Congratulations to him! Other matches: Zhu Lin lost the first set 5-7 against Shtakusic; Bai Zhuoxuan also fell 4-6 in the first set to Wiedemannova.

Additionally, yesterday Beijing time, the 2026 Australian Open officially announced the men's and women's singles seed lists. For the men's singles, the top eight seeds are:

1. Alcaraz

2. Sinner

3. Zverev

4. Djokovic

5. Musetti

6. Deminor

7. Aliassime

8. Shelton

The top eight seeds for the women's singles are:

1. Sabalenka

2. Swiatek

3. Gauff

4. Anisimova

5. Rybakina

6. Pegula

7. Boulter

8. Mira Andreeva

Let's look at other tournament results. Last night Beijing time, the ATP250 Adelaide event completed its second-round singles matches, with the quarterfinalists determined. Fucsovics, Vacherot, Vukic, and Paul secured their spots in the last eight.

The ATP250 Auckland singles second round also finished last night Beijing time. Pericard, Menchik, and Spizzirri each defeated their opponents to reach the quarterfinals; however, second seed and Norway's top player Ruud lost 4-6, 4-6 to Hungarian Marosan, missing out on the last eight.

At the WTA500 Adelaide event, in the second-round singles matches, sixth seed and American star Navarro defeated Kazakhstan’s Putintseva 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals, where she will face Russian rising star Schneider; second seed and defending champion Keys beat qualifier Valentova 6-4, 6-1 to secure her quarterfinal spot, next facing eighth seed Canadian newcomer Mboko.

In doubles, during a quarterfinal match, second seeds Zhang Shuai and Siniakova came back from a set down to defeat Babos and Fernandez 6-7(3), 7-6(6), 10-6, advancing to the semifinals. They will next face fourth seeds Danilina and Krunic for a place in the final.

At the WTA250 Hobart event, in a key second-round singles match yesterday afternoon Beijing time, China’s second-ranked player Wang Xinyu lost 1-6, 5-7 to eighth seed Polish player Linette, missing the quarterfinals. In a doubleheader day, Wang Meiren teamed with Zheng Saisai in the doubles first-round makeup match, defeating fourth seeds Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan 7-5, 6-4 to win this all-Chinese derby.

However, after reaching the doubles quarterfinals, Wang Xinyu and Zheng Saisai chose to withdraw, giving their opponents a walkover to the semifinals. This decision sparked some fans’ dissatisfaction: “Why compete against their own compatriots only to withdraw immediately, handing the semifinals to foreigners? What were they thinking?”

Finally, let's play a guessing game. The picture below shows a player relaxing on the beach. Without any hints, can you identify who she is?

No one guessed correctly in the last round. Actually, the person in the picture is Swiss star Bencic.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Independent Thinker)