Australian Open 2026: Olga Danilovic's Comeback Victory Over Venus Williams & Alcaraz's Dominance

Russian veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was a quarter-finalist last year, but has just lost a match-tiebreak heartbreaker to Chinese qualifier Zhuoxuan Bai after battling for almost three hours. Pavlyuchenkova is set for a rankings freefall when her points come off from last year. Bai is Sabalenka’s second-round opponent. Alcaraz has rolled out some super shots to win his last service game as he tries to complete a win on Rod Laver Arena. Alcaraz’s drop volley to win the game was superb – the whole crowd went “ohhh” as it landed in, poor Adam Walton could do nothing more than watch it. The Aussie is giving his all and has some local fans trying to fire him up, but Alcaraz is a superstar, and he’s showing that tonight. Alcaraz leads 6-3, 7-6, 2-2. An unfortunate tie-break performance from Australia’s Adam Walton sees him fall in a two-set hole after an otherwise sharp second set. Walton was arguably the better player in that set until the tie-break started, including being up a break at 3-1, but nerves appeared to get the better of him. A pair of double faults and a wild volley were his undoing as Alcaraz breezed through the ’breaker, losing only two points. It could be a quick finish from here, but that might be underestimating the fight in Walton. Serbian star Olga Danilovic admits she was a little starstruck seeing Venus Williams playing at the other end. She came back from 4-0 down in the third set and praised the local Serbian fans at John Cain Arena. “It was such an amazing atmosphere, I knew most people were cheering for Venus, but I could see Serbian flags in the crowd as well,” Danilovic said in her courtside interview. “That’s what I love about playing here, our people turn out in big numbers. It was electric playing here. “I just tried to keep telling myself to move my arms, move my feet and it worked.” Zeynep Sonmez earned a place in fans’ hearts as well as the second round at the Australian Open on Sunday when the Turkish qualifier rushed to the aid of a ball girl who had fainted in the punishing Melbourne heat. The world number 112 was locked in battle with 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and waiting to receive serve in the second set when the girl, who was positioned beside the chair umpire, suddenly wobbled and fell on her back. The girl picked herself up but stumbled again moments later, prompting 23-year-old Sonmez to stop play and run towards her. With the crowd applauding, Sonmez put the girl’s arm over her shoulder and guided her to a seat so medical staff could provide treatment. “She was really struggling. She said she was fine but it was really obvious she was not fine,” Sonmez told the BBC. “So I went to grab her and said ‘sit down and drink something, you’re not fine’. As we were walking she fainted so luckily I grabbed her. She was really shaking. “I always say it’s more important to be a good human being than a good tennis player. It was just my instinct to help her and everyone would do the same. I’m happy I got to help.” Organisers said the ball girl had returned home following treatment. “If I see her tomorrow or later in the tournament I’d love to speak to her,” Sonmez said. Sonmez went on to lose the second set but she was able to secure a 7-5 4-6 6-4 win and become the first woman from Turkey to reach the second round of the Melbourne Park Grand Slam. Her victory comes on the back of a 2025 season in which she reached the third round at Wimbledon, marking the best Grand Slam result in the professional era for a Turkish woman. She also reached the second round of the U.S. Open. Reuters