January 12th, 2026
The 2026 tennis season is officially one week old! If you’re late to the party and missed some of the action, don’t worry: I’ve got a full recap for you below. From who claimed the first titles of the year through to some off-court drama and sad news for the tennis community, I cover it all.
Last week’s champs
The past seven days saw a host of events, with the United Cup team event, two ATP 250s, a WTA 250 and a WTA 500. Here’s who took out the honors:
- United Cup – Poland beat Switzerland 2-1
- Brisbane (WTA 500) – Sabalenka beat Kostyuk 6-4, 6-3
- Brisbane (ATP 250) – Medvedev beat Nakashima 6-2, 7-6(1)
- Hong Kong (ATP 250) – Bublik beat Musetti 7-6(2), 6-3
- Auckland (WTA 250) – Svitolina beat Wang 6-3, 7-6(6)
The United Cup saw another brilliant event unfold, with defending champions USA bundled out in the semi-finals. Poland gained revenge for their two runner-up placements in 2024-25, going one step further to take out the title off the back of some scintillating form by Hubert Hurkacz. Belgium and Switzerland both punched above their weight, making the semis and final respectively.
As expected, Aryna Sabalenka continued her brilliant form in Australia by winning the Brisbane International (again) despite a stacked field. Daniil Medvedev made it two titles in two months with a 22nd different title in Brisbane, while over in Hong Kong, Alexander Bublik carried on his 2025 form with a title run that saw him crack the world’s top 10 for the first time (and extend Lorenzo Musetti’s titleless run, dating back to 2022).
Elina Svitolina also held her seed and won the ASB Classic in Auckland, setting a high bar for husband Gael Monfils to live up to in the men’s edition this week.
Sinner v Alcaraz exhibition
While most of the ATP Tour was down under preparing for the Australian Open, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz were cashing in at an exhibition in Seoul, South Korea.
The pair played an entertaining match in true exhibition spirit – Alcaraz won on the scoreboard, but the two were clearly focused on giving the fans a show, with some ridiculous points produced. They also shared in their joint press conference a desire to play doubles together at some point – then shared a plane to Melbourne!
Crazy Carreno Busta shot
Speaking of crazy shots, Pablo Carreno Busta became an early contender for shot-of-the-year with this brilliant 360-degree-no-look volley against Grigor Dimitrov in Brisbane this week. It’s a shame he couldn’t finish off the point, but that doesn’t take away from how incredible this shot was.
Egyptian wildcard breaks the internet in Nairobi
One player that certainly won’t be featuring in shot-of-the-year – at least not for the right reasons – is Egypt’s Hajar Abdelkader. The 21-year-old virtually broke the internet for a number of days this week with her truly atrocious performance at an ITF event in Nairobi, Kenya.
She’d applied for and been granted a last minute wildcard, with Tennis Kenya assuming she was being truthful about her tennis ability. Turns out she was not, and could barely make contact with the tennis ball, hitting 20 double faults and losing 6-0, 6-0 in just over half an hour. Highlights below, but be warned, they’re a tough watch.
Nick Kyrgios flops
Mercurial Australian Nick Kyrgios was back in action last week, playing as a wildcard at the Brisbane International. His performance was underwhelming, however, with the former world No 13 losing 6-3, 6-4 to world No 58 Aleksandar Kovacevic. Off the back of the loss, Kyrgios withdrew himself from contention for an Australian Open wildcard, admitting his fitness is not up to scratch yet.
“After some good conversations with TA I’ve made the call to focus on doubles for this year’s AO,” he said. “I’m fit and back on court, but five setters are a different beast, and I’m not quite ready to go the distance yet.
“This tournament means everything to me, but I’d rather give my spot to someone who’s ready to make their moment count. It’s all building blocks, and I’ll be back next year and pumped to compete.”
Kyrgios’ decision has led to one positive – former champion Stan Wawrinka has been awarded a wildcard instead, with the Swiss playing in his final Australian Open this January.
Mouratoglou vs Tsonga beef
That’s all that happened on-court last week, but there was plenty of action off it as well. Coach and public figure Patrick Mouratoglou got into an online spat with former player Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, which divided the tennis community.
It began by Mouratoglou posting a reaction video on his social media, responding to a clip of Tsonga claiming that the current top 10 lacks depth. Mouratoglou disagreed with Tsonga, saying that the Frenchman wouldn’t have been able to beat the likes of Jack Draper, Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Felix Auger-Aliassime regularly.
Tsonga bit back, posting another video where he criticized Mouratoglou, saying: “You’ll remain just the coach. You will never have felt what it’s like to be a tennis player, to step into the arena. You’re not the best placed to give me lessons on the high level.”
Coaching changes at Australian Open
In less dramatic but still very exciting news, the Australian Open announced that they will be looking to include head coaches more in the 2026 tournament.
The tournament posted an update over the weekend, saying that it will be “recognising the lead coach of every champion in the post-match ceremony, bringing coaches into press conferences and creating other content opportunities” in order to “deepen the public understanding of the contribution of the tennis coach.”
Fingers crossed this leads to deeper tactical insight and analysis for us tennis fans!
The passing of Damian Kust
Finally, in much sadder news, the tennis community lost one of its finest last week.
I didn’t know Damian Kust personally, nor had I interacted with him directly. However, I’ve been a follower of his for years, and often used his insights on Challenger-level players to inform my picks and analysis heading into Grand Slams. He unfortunately passed in his mid-20s due to an auto-immune disease, and leaves a massive hole in the tennis community as a result.
Coming up next week
The Australian Open is drawing nearer, and officially gets underway this Sunday. I’ll be heading over to catch some of the action in the flesh, but before then, there’s plenty of tennis to watch this week:
- Adelaide International (WTA 500 & ATP 250)
- Hobart International (WTA 250)
- ASB Classic, Auckland (ATP 250) – Check our betting tips for the ATP Auckland.
Qualifiers also begin in Melbourne this Monday, with 128 men and women vying to make the main draw. I’ve put together a piece on the 14 names to watch in Australian Open qualifying, so be sure to check that out as the action unfolds this week.
