Day 5 of the 2026 Australian Open: Wang Xinyu Stands as the Last Singles Hope, Bencic Exits

On January 22nd, Beijing time, the fifth day of the 2026 Australian Open main draw concluded with the second-round matches in the lower half of both men's and women's singles. The three Chinese players competing today earned one win and two losses. Wang Xinyu achieved her best personal Australian Open result, becoming the "last singles representative" of the Chinese contingent, while Wu Yibing and Shang Juncheng were eliminated in the second round.

Wang Xinyu (Photo: Visual China)

Wang Xinyu staged a comeback in a three-set battle against the 24th seed Ostapenko, advancing to her first Australian Open round of 32 and unlocking the record of reaching at least the third round in all four Grand Slams. Her ranking immediately rose to No. 40. Continuing her excellent form since the start of the new season, Wang displayed strong mental resilience and competitive level at the year's first Grand Slam. She will face another seeded player in the third round — last year's China Open finalist Noskova — aiming to reach the round of 16 in a Grand Slam again after Wimbledon 2024.

Wu Yibing

Wu Yibing was narrowly defeated in a five-set duel by American Spizzirri, who had earlier knocked out the 28th seed and highly regarded Brazilian rising star Fonseca in the first round, riding high on momentum. Spizzirri took the first two sets, but Wu fought back to even the score. Despite suffering cramps and falling multiple times while saving match points in the deciding set, Wu persevered until the last point. This grueling 3-hour and 43-minute match marked the end of Wu’s Melbourne run. Nevertheless, he gained four valuable wins at this Australian Open and improved his ranking further, with hopes for a healthy and impressive 2026 season ahead.

Shang Juncheng

Shang Juncheng lost in three sets to the powerful Dutch player Van de Zandschulp, missing the chance to face the ten-time champion Djokovic in the third round. Shang held a set point at 6-5 in the first set tiebreak but then lost three consecutive points to drop the set, which affected his morale in the following sets. Facing Van de Zandschulp’s steady serving and baseline game, Shang was unable to mount an effective response. With this result, all Chinese male players have exited the singles competition at this Australian Open.

Swiss star Bencic, who showed good form in warm-ups, unexpectedly became the first female top-10 seed to be eliminated at this Australian Open. Despite delivering a "bagel" set to her opponent in the second set, she lost in three sets to 19-year-old Czech qualifier Batukova. Bencic’s Australian Open prospects had been highly anticipated after her MVP-winning performance at the United Cup and reentry into the top 10 rankings before the tournament. Her second-round exit was surprising.

Swiatek

Anisimova

Rybakina

Pegula

Other top seeds in the women's singles advanced smoothly, including No. 2 seed Swiatek, No. 4 Anisimova, No. 5 Rybakina, No. 6 Pegula, the defending champion Keys, and two-time winner Osaka, all moving on to the third round. Seeds Ostapenko (defeated by Wang Xinyu) and Badosa (lost to Shcherbakova) were ousted.

On the men's side, seeded players Shapovalov and Tsitsipas were defeated, but these results were not considered major upsets. Shapovalov was swept in straight sets by former US Open champion Cilic, while Tsitsipas lost in four sets to Czech player Machac, who won the Adelaide title last week.

Sinner

Djokovic

Shelton

Other highly ranked players advanced without trouble. Defending champion Sinner and ten-time titleholder Djokovic, both appearing on Rod Laver Arena, won their matches in straight sets. No. 5 seed Musetti, No. 6 Shelton, and No. 9 Fritz also progressed smoothly. Former champion Wawrinka's "final dance" at the Australian Open continues as he edged past qualifier Jeyar in a five-set thriller and will face Fritz in the third round.

Zhang Shuai

Zhang Shuai celebrated a winning start in mixed doubles, partnering with German Pütz to defeat Melichar/Bambridge in straight sets and advance to the round of 16, achieving success in both women's and mixed doubles. Chinese pair Guo Hanyu and Meladnovich won their women's doubles first-round match, marking their fifth consecutive win. The "Strait Duo" Jiang Xinyu and Zhan Haoqing, seeded 14th in women's doubles, squandered match points and were upset by Blinkova/Lazimova in the first round.

Complete results from Day 5 of the 2026 Australian Open

(Article and editing by Wang Fei)