Day 4 of the 2026 Australian Open: Top-ranked men and women advance comfortably, Zhang Shuai wins her birthday doubles match to move forward

On January 21, the fourth day of the 2026 Australian Open unfolded. Chinese athlete Bai Zhuoxuan was defeated 0-2 by world No.1 Sabalenka. After the match, Bai frankly shared that she gained confidence: “I wasn’t very nervous; the top-ranked player wasn’t as scary as expected, and I also gained experience competing on a major court.”

Bai Zhuoxuan

Zhang Shuai, celebrating her 37th birthday today, partnered with Mertens to beat the Kostyuk/Kalinskaya duo 6-4, 6-2 to advance smoothly; Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan defeated Rudich/Zarazua 6-4, 6-2 and will face the top-seeded pair in the next round; Wang Xinyu/Zheng Saisai and Shang Juncheng/Zhang Zhizhen were both defeated in the first round of doubles, unfortunately exiting the competition early.

Zhang Shuai

Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan

Wang Xinyu/Zheng Saisai

Alcaraz appeared in a new outfit on the Rod Laver Arena’s day session, comfortably defeating Hanfmann 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-2 to reach the men’s singles round of 32. In the next round, he will face French player Moutet, who received a retirement gift from Zheng Rui after leading 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 2-0.

Alcaraz

Several evening matches were temporarily halted due to rain, including the clash between third seed Zverev and Muller. Despite the weather, the pre-tournament finalist prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; local favorite and sixth seed Deminarl defeated Mejdedovic 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2, 6-1; in excellent form this year, tenth seed Bublyk beat Fuscovitz 7-5, 6-4, 7-5; fourteenth seed Davidovich Fokina triumphed in a five-set thriller 6-3, 7-6(3), 5-7, 4-6, 6-4 over American giant Opelka to enter the last 32.

Zverev

Eleventh seed Medvedev overcame Alcaraz 6-7(9), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, reaching the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in 2024. After the match, “The Premier” humorously signed on camera “not 5 sets (didn’t play five sets this time),” and will face Vietnamese-American rising star Rina Lyna Chen next. Notably, last year at the Australian Open, Chen battled through five sets to keep Medvedev out of the round of 32. His Russian compatriot, thirteenth seed Rublev, also advanced by defeating qualifier Faria 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

Medvedev

Rublev

Eighteenth seed F. Cerundolo won quickly in 1 hour 37 minutes, beating Dezhukh 6-3, 6-2, 6-1; nineteenth seed Paul won in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 against Tirante; twenty-ninth seed Tiafoe defeated Komesana 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Rina Lyna Chen beat Shevchenko 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, 6-0.

Rina Lyna Chen

On the women’s singles side, third seed Gauff easily defeated Danilovic 6-2, 6-2 to reach the last 32. Danilovic had previously eliminated veteran Williams in the first round; seventh seed Paolini comfortably beat Frech 6-2, 6-3; eighth seed Andreyeva “bagelled” Greek star Sakkari 6-0, 6-4, marking her as the fourth female player since 2000 to achieve 30 Grand Slam main draw wins before turning 19 (joining Sharapova, Vaidisova, and Gauff); twelfth seed Svitolina defeated qualifier Krimovychova 7-5, 6-1.

Gauff

Andreyeva

Seventeenth seed Canadian youngster Mboko eliminated American McNally 6-4, 6-3; nineteenth seed Mchova overcame Parks 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; twenty-third seed Schneider came back from a set down to defeat local wildcard Gibson 3-6, 7-5, 6-3; Potapova upset twenty-eighth seed Raducanu 7-6(3), 6-2 to cause a minor surprise in the second round; Putintseva cruised past Jakomo 6-1, 6-2, matching her best personal tournament result.

Potapova

Complete results from Day 4 of the 2026 Australian Open

(Written by: Sunny)