Overview
- Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1, crushed Cristina Bucsa 6-0, 6-1 in Brisbane’s second round, finishing in under 50 minutes.
- Paula Badosa’s return in doubles with Sabalenka yielded a 7-6, 7-6 win over Liudmila Samsonova and Shuai Zhang, setting up a meeting with Bucsa and Ellen Pérez.
- Mexico’s Renata Zarazúa opened 2026 by defeating former US Open champion Sloane Stephens 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 in Auckland and will face seventh seed Xinyu Wang next.
- Brandon Nakashima upset second seed Alejandro Davidovich 7-6 (4), 6-4 in Brisbane, reversing their previous head-to-head.
- In Hong Kong, Tomás Etcheverry beat Valentin Royer 6-4, 7-5 to reach the last 16, while Francisco Comesaña fell to Juncheng Shang 6-4, 6-4.