Key events
First set: Alcaraz 1-0 De Minaur* (*next server)
Alcaraz sets out his stall from this off by ripping a forehand winner, before holding to 15. For me, De Minaur will need laser focus tonight, plus a few bits of luck. He can’t outhit Alcaraz, who’s got more power despite De Minaur adding more punch to his shots, but will need to continue his aggressive approach of late, staying close to baseline a la Agassi and taking risks on important points. If he waits for Alcaraz to crack the match could fly past him. He’ll also need to maintain his high first-serve percentage from this tournament and not give Alcaraz too many second serves. He’s probably the only player in world who covers court as well as Alcaraz, but Alcaraz doesn’t like being drop-shotted, so that could be a useful tactic.
Meanwhile Lleyton Hewitt, De Minaur’s mentor who’s in his courtside box tonight, has had this to say:
Alex will need a few things to go his way. That’s the way it is for every player against Carlos. Alex can’t afford to have any dips against someone who is so explosive and can make you pay if you go off the boil at any point. Hitting-wise, Alex is going as well as I’ve ever seen him. He’s feeling great. He’s done the work and when you know you’ve done the work, it gives you even more confidence. He’s given himself every chance but he’s still got to go out there and execute.
That quicker than quick quarter-final means Alcaraz and De Minaur are already on court warming up. Here’s Simon Cambers on what De Minaur needs to do to end his run of six defeats in six in slam quarter-finals and five defeats in five against the world No 1:
Alex de Minaur went into his quarter-final with Jannik Sinner at the 2025 Australian Open hopeful that he could make life difficult for the defending champion. Not only did that not happen, but the manner of his one-sided defeat left him wondering if he really had the game to trouble the top players.
Fast forward a year and the Australian again finds himself in the last eight, again facing one of the sport’s superstars, this time Carlos Alcaraz. As with Sinner, the head to head doesn’t make pretty reading for De Minaur, with Alcaraz leading 5-0. This, though, is their first grand slam meeting and there is a growing feeling that things can be different.
Perhaps it’s because he’s playing the best tennis of his career. De Minaur enjoyed a slightly longer break than usual in the off-season, spending Christmas at home in Spain for the first time in nearly a decade. He won two matches at the United Cup and here, he has looked better than ever, losing just one set on his way to the quarters.
De Minaur takes defeats harder than most. Softly spoken, the 26-year-old gives himself a hard time when he doesn’t play the way he wants to. But there is a lightness about him this year, a realisation that if he plays the way he wants to play – more aggressively – and it doesn’t work, it’s not a mistake. “I need to give myself a pat on the back,” he said in the off-season. The epiphany – all tennis players know this but it tends to take them a long time to vocalise it – that focusing on results alone is not healthy has lifted his spirits and he seems to be walking taller than his 6ft-frame. Maybe it’s because he’s getting married this year, to fellow tennis player Katie Boulter, that he is seeing things this way.
And so he will step out on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday evening, most likely with the roof closed due to predicted temperatures of more than 40C, confident that he will at least play well. That belief is backed up by the stats; he’s tied 12th in points won on first serve, with 79%, and tied sixth in points won on second serve, at 62%.
Gauff hit three winners and 26 unforced errors in the match. Her serve – which she remodelled last season after splitting with her coach and hiring a biomechanics specialist – unravelled. She couldn’t even get her feet – which are usually some of the quickest in tennis – moving. Hearing her coach telling her during the match to just try to find the middle of the court summed up her showing. She absolutely fell to pieces. But while it was uncomfortable viewing, it’s great to see Svitolina back in a slam semi and the top 10; she’s a much-loved player wherever she goes and would be a hugely popular first-time slam champion.
“Not bad,” says a smiling Svitolina of her performance. “It’s always been my dream to come back here after my maternity leave and get back into the top 10. It didn’t happen last year, but in the off-season I told my coach I still wanted to get back to the top 10. It means the world to me.” I’m a bit distracted, though, by backstage footage of Gauff absolutely smashing her racket to pieces. Perhaps she should have done that on court; maybe it would have kickstarted her into action. It was an awful performance from her and Svitolina took full advantage.
Svitolina destroys Gauff 6-1, 6-2
At 15-all, a collective groan as Gauff’s forehand fails for 15-30. And then her serve gets absolutely slaughtered by Svitolina for 30-40! Gauff balloons her backhand into the tramlines on match point and Svitolina has surged past the French Open champion in less than an hour! Gauff scurries off court showing more speed than she did for most of the match. What a chastening defeat. But Svitolina is into her first semi-final in Melbourne and her first slam semi since Wimbledon in 2023 and is looking sharp. She’ll need to be against Sabalenka on Thursday.
Second set: Gauff* 1-6, 2-5 Svitolina (*next server)
Gauff did come from a set down to win her third-round match against Hailey Baptiste and also needed three sets in the fourth round against Karolina Muchova, but Svitolina v2.0 doesn’t appear to be in the mood to allow a comeback and remains in attacking mode as she steps forward to bury the winner for 40-15 and holds from there. She’s a game away from her first Australian Open semi-final!
Second set: Gauff 1-6, 2-4 Svitolina* (*next server)
The heat is on Gauff as she steps up to serve with Svitolina only two games away. Talking of the heat, it’s still 41 degrees in Melbourne, even though it’s now 8pm in the evening. At least they have the comfort of the Rod Laver roof and air con for this match. And Gauff cooly holds to 15. The crowd cheer as if she’s won the set; they want a comeback.
Second set: Gauff* 1-6, 1-4 Svitolina (*next server)
Some green shoots here on the blue court for Gauff, with her body language improving and her feet moving a bit more. She has 30-all on Svitolina’s serve. But Svitolina strides to 40-30 with an ace and then Gauff whacks a forehand into the net.
Second set: Gauff 1-6, 1-3 Svitolina* (*next server)
“Remember who you are Coco,” screams someone from the crowd. Meanwhile Gauff’s team are giving her some instructions, which I think leads to a time violation. But it does the trick, because Gauff gathers herself from 30-40 to grab her first hold of match.
Second set: Gauff* 1-6, 0-3 Svitolina (*next server)
It’s a run of 10 consecutive points for Svitolina as she backs up the break with an ace to hold to love … and given that Gauff just can’t hold serve, is this already over?
Svitolina breaks: Gauff 1-6, 0-2 Svitolina* (*next server)
0-15, 0-30, 0-40, game. Gauff, despite her status as a US Open and French Open champion, has completely unravelled. The crowd are as stunned as the American. Even Svitolina’s courtside box of her husband Gael Monfils and British coach Andrew Bettles look baffled. This wasn’t in the script.
Second set: Gauff* 1-6, 0-1 Svitolina (*next server)
Gauff is armed with a new racket as the second set gets under way. She won only FIVE points on serve in that first set. The good news for her here is that Svitolina is serving. But Gauff still looks so tense and tortured and at 30-all her forehand malfuntions, before she bashes a backhand into the net on game point.
Svitolina wins the first set 6-1
So Gauff is serving to stay in the first set. Another double fault for 30-all. And Svitolina nails a superb return for 30-40 and her first set point. Cue a huge collective sigh as Gauff surrenders the set with her fifth double of the night. It’s great to see Svitolina hitting with such aggression – in the past the 31-year-old’s tended to be more passive, which is why she hasn’t yet made that leap to grand slam champion, despite 13 previous major quarter-finals and three semis – but this is an absolute nightmare for Gauff.
First set: Gauff* 1-5 Svitolina (*next server)
Yes she can, because at 40-30 Svitolina, jumping about a metre into the air, smacks a forehand down the line to hold! The 12th seed hasn’t lost in 2026, having won the warm-up title in Auckland and sent a statement with her 6-2, 6-4 victory over Mirra Andreeva in the last 16 on Sunday, and is looking supremely confident. Perhaps as confident as she ever has.
Svitolina breaks: Gauff 1-4 Svitolina* (*next server)
Another inauspicious game from Gauff on serve, and she slumps 0-40 down when Svitolina somehow survives at the net, despite Gauff bashing ball after ball at her. Gauff’s second serve is batting practice for Svitolina right now, and Gauff’s forehand flops into the net after another punchy return. Gauff is broken to love and Svitolina has the comfort of a double break … but can she hold to see out the set from here?
First set: Gauff* 1-3 Svitolina (*next server)
There had been signs in the first four rounds that the serving woes that plagued Gauff last season had eased, but they’ve returned at the worst possible time for her tonight. The positive for her is that with her supreme athleticism, variation, much-vaunted backhand and much-improved forehand, she often has enough in her game even when her serve isn’t functioning. Those skills help get her to 30-all on Svitolina’s serve, but the Ukrainian claims the first hold of the quarter-final from there. “COME ON!!!!” screams Svitolina, while looking slightly annoyed with herself. I’ve no idea why.
Svitolina breaks: Gauff 1-2 Svitolina* (*next server)
At 15-all, a second double fault of the evening from Gauff. She looks a little tight and has already hit 2/3 as many doubles as she did in the whole of her last-16 match against Karolina Muchova, which went to three sets. Gauff, painfully aware she doesn’t want to serve another double fault, pats down a weak second serve at 15-30 and Svitolina gives it the treatment it deserves. 15-40, two break points. And Gauff coughs up another double fault. Ach.
Gauff breaks: Gauff* 1-1 Svitolina (*next server)
Svitolina, with a neon orange vest and white skirt, is also in a bit of service trouble at 15-30. But Gauff, who’s co-ordinating with her opponent in a neon orange dress with a matching headband, makes the error. Good to see they’ve swapped style notes. Svitolina brings up 40-30, Gauff comes back for deuce and then hauls Svitolina back from advantage in a lung-busting rally of 26 shots, which would leave most others sucking for air but these two are such supreme athletes, two of the quickest and fittest on tour. Gauff secures her first break point. And then a second … and Svitolina strikes long! They’re back on serve.
Svitolina breaks: Gauff 0-1 Svitolina* (*next server)
Gauff wins the toss and elects to serve first, which is a positive approach by the American third seed, but it does straight away put pressure on the shot that has probably endured greater scrutiny than any other in tennis over past year. And right on cue, at 30-all, Gauff double faults to hand Svitolina an early break point.
The pair trade backhands … before Svitolina swats a deep forehand … and Gauff’s backhand goes wide! Svitolina strikes first. But expect plenty of breaks on both sides of the net today, given they’re such strong returners without the biggest serves.
On the commentary, Jamie Murray says (slightly unconvincingly) that he’s going for Gauff today. Tim Henman is opting for Svitolina in three. I think I’d rather sit on a very rusty, uncomfortable fence than call this.
Looking at the head-to-head, Svitolina has beaten Gauff before at the Australian Open, but that was in 2021, when Gauff was only 16 and hadn’t yet graduated to the status of double grand slam champion. Gauff has defeated Svitolina in the two matches they have played since, but they did both go to three sets. And I wouldn’t be surprised if this match goes the distance too. Svitolina is in supreme form, having won all nine of her matches in 2026.
Gauff and Svitolina have made their entrance, with the Rod Laver Arena roof closed. That’s always the case for the night session walk-outs, but we’re not sure yet if the the heat rule is in place which would mean the roof stays on for the match. It’s still 42C (!!!) at 7pm in the evening. Zverev placed his match under the roof earlier, the doubles matches are taking place under the roof on Margaret Court and the start of the wheelchair events have been postponed until tomorrow.
Those results mean there’s still the possibility, in this tournament of few shocks, that the four top seeds reach the semi-finals in both the men’s and women’s singles. It’s already the first time in the open era that the top six seeds have made the quarter-finals in both draws.
Alexander Zverev will face the victor of Alcaraz v De Minaur. Last year’s runner-up is back in the semi-finals after a supreme serving performance against the American Learner Tien, smacking down 24 aces in a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 7-6 (3) victory. Tien can still take so much from his run to the last eight, with Zverev calling the 20-year-old “unbelievable” and saying he hadn’t “played anyone who plays that well from the baseline for a very long time”. Like Jovic, this is just the start for Tien.
Tumaini Carayol
By the second set of Aryna Sabalenka’s 13th consecutive grand slam quarter-final, it was quickly becoming clear that the best tennis player in the world had reached flow state and she could do anything she wanted with the ball. Up 2-0 and mercilessly hunting a double break, Sabalenka swept forward to the net and executed a sickly sweet forehand half-volley winner that would have satisfied even the legendary volleyers of yesteryear.
There was once a time when a great performance from Sabalenka meant the Belarusian pummelling every ball, aiming for every line and praying that her shots would happen to land in. She has worked herself into such a well-rounded player today, who suffocates her opponents through the completeness of her game and has so many options at her disposal. Despite a valiant effort from her young opponent to simply prolong their high-quality opening set, Sabalenka bulldozed Jovic 6-3, 6-0 to continue her run through the draw.
Sabalenka’s victory means the extension of what is becoming one of the great grand slam records of this century. She has now reached the semi-finals in 12 of her last 13 majors, the one anomaly being her grim experience at the French Open in 2024 where she was desperately struggling with food poisoning during her quarter-final loss to Mirra Andreeva. Even then, she only narrowly fell, losing in three tight sets.
“When I’m in the tournament, I’m not thinking about that, but sometimes we all stop for a second and we think the level we were able to reach, it sounds really incredible and tough to believe,” Sabalenka said. “For sure, sometimes I just think that it’s unbelievable what I was able to achieve.”
This scoreline does not reflect Jovic’s admirable fight. The youngest player inside the top 150, Jovic has enjoyed an incredible breakthrough tournament in Melbourne, reaching her first grand slam quarter-final, beating her first top 20 opponent in the No 7 seed Jasmine Paolini and achieving a result that will place her inside the top 20, all at 18 years old.
Aryna Sabalenka awaits the winner of Gauff v Svitolina. The title hunting, teen hunting Sabalenka said her mentality is “trophy or nothing” after the 2023 and 2024 champion ruthlessly ended the run of the 18-year-old American Iva Jovic 6-3, 6-0 earlier – having also taken out the 19-year-old Victoria Mboko in the last 16. It extends her winning streak at the start of 2026 to 10 matches and 20 consecutive sets and she’s only the third woman to reach eight successive slam semi-finals in the past 38 years, after Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis. It’s surprising that the likes of Serena and Graff aren’t in that company.
Preamble
G’day and welcome to the 42C furnace that is the Australian Open – day 10 night session!
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, has anything changed for Alex de Minaur as he heads into his seventh grand slam quarter-final with a 0-6 record, plus a 0-5 head-to-head against Carlos Alcaraz?
Well, yes, a few things have. Australia’s main man is at a career-high world ranking of No 6 and he’s playing arguably the best and most aggressive tennis we’ve ever seen from him, having added a bit more punch to a game that was already packed with formidable foot speed and fight.
“I got tired of the narrative big hitters can take the racket out of my hands,” De Minaur said after destroying Alexander Bublik in the last 16. “I’ve been constantly wanting to get to, when I’m playing big hitters, not be a punching bag, and show I can go toe-to-toe with them and dictate. The last couple of matches is some of the best ball striking I’ve had.”
But … Alcaraz still boasts more power than De Minaur. But … Alcaraz hasn’t stood still either and is raising the bar in men’s tennis to astonishing levels, along with Jannik Sinner, slam by slam. But … Alcaraz is only three match wins from becoming the youngest man to complete a career slam. But, but, but; there so are many of them.
To put it another way, De Minaur probably has about a 25% chance of beating the world No 1. But – and perhaps this is the biggest but of all in the Australian’s eyes – as long as there is a chance, De Minaur will believe he can do it, and will leave absolutely everything out there, as he has his entire career.
For Svitolina it’s a similar story. The Ukrainian is a supreme athlete with a huge heart who’s attempting to break new ground having reached 13 previous major quarter-finals and three semis without taking the next step. At 31, she’s a whole decade older than her opponent Coco Gauff, the reigning French Open champion, but she’s playing some of the tennis of her life and will be determined not to let this opportunity pass her by.
Gauff and Svitolina will be on court: at about 7pm Melbourne time/8am GMT, with Alcaraz v De Minaur to follow. Don’t go anywhere!
