Bai Zhuoxuan lost to the top-ranked pair and was eliminated, while Rublev dropped a set but advanced—Xi Da Ma, you are still the queen.

Three minutes daily to catch up on global tennis news. Hello tennis fans, today is Wednesday, January 21, 2026. Welcome to the Tennis Home news midday report.

Early this morning Beijing time, the 2026 Australian Open began its fourth day of matches. The men’s and women’s singles progressed to the second round, while doubles matches continued their remaining first-round clashes. Regarding Chinese players: young Bai Zhuoxuan challenged world number one Sabalenka in the morning. At the same time, the “power duo” Wang Xinyu and Zheng Saisai played their first-round doubles match. Around 11:20 AM, Shang Juncheng and Zhang Zhizhen will face Ebden and Ram in the doubles first round; at about 12:30 PM, Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan will compete against Ruddick and Zarazua, while Zhang Shuai and Mertens will take on Kostyia and Kalinskaya.

At the time of reporting, the match between Bai Zhuoxuan and Sabalenka had concluded. Despite Bai’s courageous effort and fighting spirit, the skill gap proved decisive as she lost in straight sets 3-6, 1-6, missing out on the third round.

Wang Xinyu and Zheng Saisai also failed to secure a win, falling 3-6, 4-6 to Cabrera and Preston, exiting in their opening match. Other matches are still ongoing.

Turning to the men’s singles court: in a key second-round match this morning Beijing time, Russian star Rublev battled Portugal’s Faria in four sets, ultimately winning 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 to advance to the third round. Argentina’s F. Cerundolo, Hungary’s Marosan, and American Tommy Paul also secured victories to progress.

In last night’s completed first-round matches Beijing time, two-time defending champion Sinner received a retirement from French opponent Gaston while leading 6-2, 6-1, easily claiming his opening victory. Next round, he will face local player Duckworth.

Fritz, Hurkacz, and Tsitsipas also won their matches to advance, while Dimitrov and Monfils were defeated and eliminated. The day featured two five-set thrillers: 16th seed Menchik defeated Spain’s Busta 7-5, 4-6, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-3; 15th seed Khachanov came from behind to beat American youngster Mickelson 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

On the women’s singles side: in some second-round matches finished this morning Beijing time, Ukrainian rising star Svitolina defeated qualifier Krimovikova 7-5, 6-1 to reach the last 32. She will next face Russian newcomer Schneider, who saved three match points in the second set and narrowly overturned local wildcard Gibson 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, marking her second consecutive year reaching the Australian Open round of 32. Turkish player Senmez, American Baptiste, and Kazakhstan’s Putintseva also advanced.

In the remaining first-round matches yesterday, 19-year-old Czech qualifier Batukova caused an upset by beating Australian star Kasatkina 7-6(7), 0-6, 6-3, earning her first Grand Slam main draw win. Two-time champion and 16th seed Naomi Osaka survived a tough match against Croatian Ruddick with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory. Meanwhile, 38-year-old German veteran Sigmund, known for comebacks, staged a dramatic turnaround after losing the first set 0-6 and trailing 2-5 with two match points against her in the second set, eventually reversing 18th seed Russian Samsonova 0-6, 7-5, 6-4, making it the day’s most dramatic match.

Players such as K. Pliskova, Ostapenko, Rybakina, Grachova, Linda Fruhvirtova, Bencic, Kostyia, Inglis, Kalinskaya, and Grabher also won their respective matches to advance to the second round.

Additionally, last night Beijing time, the Australian Open released the mixed doubles draw. Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai teamed up with German Puetz to compete, facing Melichar and Bambri in the first round.

Finally, let’s guess and recognize. The image below shows an Australian Open qualifier collapsing in celebration after a victory over a veteran star who plans to retire this season. Can you identify who he is?

In the previous guess, some fans gave the correct answer. Yes, the person in the picture is China’s second-ranked female player Wang Xinyu.

(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Independent Thinker)