Australian Open Qualifiers: Wu Yibing Advances to Main Draw, Mainland China Sets Record for Male Player Participation

On January 15th, 2026, the final round of the Australian Open qualifying matches took place. Today, five Chinese players competed, with Wu Yibing, Yuan Yue, and Bai Zhuoxuan securing spots in the main draw, while Zhu Lin and Huang Zelin unfortunately fell short.

Wu Yibing

Wu Yibing, playing second on Court 6, defeated American player Boye 6-3, 6-2. He advanced through all three qualifying rounds in straight sets, marking his first successful qualification at the Australian Open and boosting his current ranking to No.160. This is Wu’s second time passing Grand Slam qualifiers in his career after the 2022 US Open. He will return to the Australian Open main draw after three years; in 2023, he had direct entry based on ranking but lost in the first round to Medvedev.

This year’s Australian Open will feature four male players from mainland China in the men’s singles main draw, setting a new record for participation. The other three players are Zhang Zhizhen (protected ranking), Shang Juncheng (protected ranking), and Bu Yunchaokete (Asia-Pacific wild card champion).

Bai Zhuoxuan

Bai Zhuoxuan came from behind to defeat Wiedemannova 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, becoming the second Chinese player to qualify. Returning to competition at the end of last year with a current ranking of No.697, Bai used a protected ranking to enter qualifying. She won her first two rounds in straight sets. In the final round, facing her Czech peer Wiedemannova, she overcame the setback of losing the first set to qualify for her first Grand Slam main draw since her comeback. This will be her second appearance at the Australian Open main draw after 2024.

Yuan Yue

Yuan Yue dominated former world No.22 and Slovenian player Zidansek 6-3, 6-1, becoming the last Chinese player to earn a main draw spot. Yuan fought through three-set battles in the first two qualifying rounds, showing great resilience. She will compete in the Australian Open women’s singles main draw for the fourth consecutive year, although she has yet to win a main draw match here.

Zhu Lin

Former Australian Open round-of-16 player Zhu Lin was defeated 5-7, 4-6 by 17th seed Canadian player Siniakova, ending her run in the final qualifying round. After winning two qualifying rounds, Zhu’s current ranking has risen to No.155. Her next event will be the WTA 125K tournament in the Philippines later this month. Hong Kong player Huang Zelin lost 6-7(4), 6-4, 3-6 to Swedish player Immel in the final qualifying round, missing a chance to make his Australian Open main draw debut.

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(Text and editing by Wang Fei; photos by Li Jianyi and Huang Shangyue)