It was a dramatic weekend of play at the 2026 Australian Open in Melbourne, and we now know the eight players left on the men’s side and the women’s side of the draw.
On the men’s side, there was a notable upset in the fourth round, as the 25th seed Learner Tien of the United States clobbered the 11th seed Russian Daniil Medvedev. What was eye popping about Tien’s performance was the scoreline. Tien won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0, 6-3. Tien broke Medvedev seven times, while Medvedev had six double faults. Medvedev only won 33% of his second serve points, while Tien won 68%.
This was the second straight year Tien beat Medvedev at the Australian Open. Last year Tien won 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 1-6, 7-6 in the second round at Margaret Court Arena.
A key story at the moment has been the success of the Americans. Of the 16 players left are six Americans. On the men’s side, Tien and Ben Shelton are still in the tournament. On the women’s side, the four American women left are Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula, and Iva Jovic. In the third round, Jovic upset two-time grand slam finalist Jasmine Paoloni of Italy, 6-2, 7-6.
In the quarterfinals, Pegula will face Anisimova in an all-American matchup. Jovic, the 29th seed, will face world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, while Gauff will face the 12th seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine. The fourth quarterfinal is a battle of major champions. Iga Swiatek of Poland is facing Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Swiatek is a six-time major champion, while Rybakina won Wimbledon in 2022.
On the men’s side, Shelton is facing Jannik Sinner of Italy, the defending Australian Open champion, and Tien will face Germany’s Alexander Zverev. Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain will not get the support of the hometown crowd when he faces Alex de Minaur of Australia. The fourth match has two top five players in Serbia’s Novak Djokovic (the fourth seed) and Lorenzo Mussetti of Italy (the fifth seed).
