The 2026 Australian Open is officially over, with a fantastic final few matches unfolding over the weekend. If you missed it, or any of the action earlier in the week, then read on. Below, I break down all the top stories from the tennis world over the past seven days.
Alcaraz continues to set records
There were plenty of storylines from the pointy end of the Australian Open, but none bigger than Carlos Alcaraz continuing to break records at a rapid pace.
The 22-year-old took on Novak Djokovic in the final of the year’s first major, prevailing 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 over the Serbian. In doing so, he became the youngest player in history to complete the career Grand Slam, and the first to bag seven slam titles as well.
In doing so, he draws alongside the likes of John McEnroe and Mats Wilander in total majors won. For comparison, at the age Alcaraz is now, Djokovic had just one Grand Slam to his name, Roger Federer two and Rafael Nadal six.
Rybakina breaks her drought
Over in the women’s event, Elena Rybakina continued her brilliant form to defeat Aryna Sabalenka in their final, winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. It was the Kazakh’s second major trophy, and pushed her out to 20 wins from her last 21 matches.
For her beaten opponent, it sees Sabalenka slip to 5-5 in recent finals, having lost at this stage to Madison Keys last year. The Belarusian held a 3-0 lead in the final set and looked in complete control, before Rybakina flicked a switch and won six of the next seven games to claim the championship.
From boring, the mind-blowing in Melbourne
Prior to the weekend’s tennis, the big storyline in Melbourne had been how predictable the week’s action had been. The top six in both the men’s and women’s events made the quarter-finals, and every quarter-final was closed out in straight sets. Fans began to complain with so many one-sided matches, creating a big narrative that the 2026 Australian Open was the most boring major of the century.
That all changed come semi-final time, for the men at least.
Both Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were heavy, heavy favorites to win their semis against Alexander Zverev and Djokovic respectively. In fact, Djokovic was at the longest odds he’s paid to win a match since 2009, priced at 9.00 (+800) by many tennis betting sites.
But both men defied expectations and created two of the all-time great matches of the tournament’s history. First, Zverev pushed Alcaraz to five sets, eventually falling 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4), 7-5 in five hours, 27 minutes. The German overcame a two-set deficit when Alcaraz began suffering from full body cramps, but his opponent hung on and was the more clutch of the two, coming back from a break down in the fifth to book his place in the final.
For Djokovic, his feat was even more impressive. The 38-year-old stood toe-to-toe with the best hard-courter in the world – a man who had beaten him five times on the trot – and beat him in a five-setter that lasted well beyond the four hour mark, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Djokovic’s execution under pressure was incredible. He lost on almost every metric except for the scoreboard – winning less points, hitting more errors, less wins, serving at a lower percentage. But when it came to the big moments, Djokovic was excellent, saving 16/18 break points and winning 3/8 himself.
Gauff, others, irked by camera coverage at Australian Open
Earlier in the week, Coco Gauff grabbed headlines by smashing her racket after crashing out of the tournament in the quarter-finals. The American addressed the incident – which occurred off-court – complaining about how little privacy the athletes have in Melbourne.
“I ?tried to go ?somewhere where there were no cameras,” Gauff said.
“I kind of have a thing with the broadcast. I feel like certain moments – the same thing happened to Aryna [Sabalenka] after I played her in the final of the US Open – I feel like they don’t need to broadcast.”
Coco Gauff releases her frustrations after a disappointing defeat in the Australian Open quarter-finals ? pic.twitter.com/4Ur9jlxR0P
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) January 27, 2026
Others jumped in to support Gauff, with Jessica Pegula saying:
“I’m not a fan of the cameras. You’re just going about your day and feel like someone’s constantly filming you. I saw online that people were zooming in on player’s phones. Literally the only time you’re not being recorded is when you’re going into the shower and going to the bathroom.”
And Iga Swiatek adding:
“Are we tennis players or are we like animals in the zoo? I don’t think it should be like that because we are tennis players. We’re meant to be watched on court and in the press. That’s our job. It’s not our job to be a meme.”
Even the WTA made a statement in support of the players, leading to Australian Open boss Craig Tiley making his own comment on the matter:
“We want to listen to the players, we wanna really understand what their needs and what their wants are. So, that’s the first question we’ll ask; we’ve heard you and whatever adjustments [we] need to make we will make.”
Press gets under Djokovic’s skin too
Gauff wasn’t the only player who had a bone to pick with the Australian Open coverage. In press last week, a reporter asked Djokovic how he feels to be chasing Sinner and Alcaraz, after chasing Federer and Nadal earlier in his career. The 24-time Grand Slam champion had this to say:
“I’m chasing Jannik and Carlos? In which sense? So, I’m always the chaser and never being chased? I find it a little bit disrespectful that you kind of miss out on what happened in between the times when I started ‘chasing,’ as you say, Rafa and Roger and now that I’m chasing Carlos and Jannik. There’s probably about a 15-year period in between where I was dominating the Grand Slams.”
Was this the interaction that sparked Djokovic’s victory over Sinner, just days later?
Coming up next week
Tennis never sleeps, so despite the dust barely having settled in Melbourne, it’s straight onto a crop of new tournaments this week. Here’s where the action is across both tours:
- Montpellier Open (ATP 250)
- Davis Cup Qualifiers (ATP)
- Abu Dhabi Open (WTA 500)
- Transylvania Open (WTA 250)
- Ostrava Open (WTA 250)
Most big names in the women’s game will be taking a rest this week, before WTA 1000 action kicks off in the Middle East the week after. For the men, it’s a similar story, with dual ATP 500s starting in a week’s time, as well as the Golden Swing.
