Australian Open 2026: Sabalenka and Alcaraz in action as cooler day brings relief from heat

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Aryna Sabalenka against Victoria Mboko begins.

We are underway on Rod Laver Arena. The world number one and top seed will serve first.

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Mboko has won the toss and elected to receive first-up. She and Sabalenka are exchanging their final warm-up shots and the start of this one is just three minutes away.

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Updated at 19.40 EST

This is the first-ever meeting between Sabalenka and 19-year-old rising star Mboko.

“I think it’s super cool,” Mboko said in the build-up. “I’ve never played a current number one in the world. That’s going to be a very different experience. I assume we’d be playing on Rod Laver, as well. I’ve never played on a Grand Slam centre court either. A lot of firsts. I’m just really excited. It’s something not many people get to experience. To be doing that on Sunday is, I think, really cool. Just to show what I got.”

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We’re nearing the start of the match we’ll first be following along with this morning, with both Aryna Sabalenka (1) and Victoria Mboko’s (17) going through their final warm-ups before they emerge out onto Rod Laver Arena.

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Novak Djokovic (4) moved past Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets yesterday evening, claiming a historic 400th Grand Slam win as he did. But the Serb flirted with controversy as he did, lucky to dodge a code violation after narrowly missing the head of a ball girl at the net in the second set.

Now, if you’re like me, you prefer to see Djokovic working as a heel rather than a face -- Yulia Putintseva’s dance moves as she was booed after beating Zeynep Sönmez another one of my tournament highlights. The legend, however, was a bit more sanguine after his win, remarking that the advice he’d give his younger self was: “Calm down, you jerk.”

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Updated at 19.33 EST

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Dissipating heat, however, doesn’t mean that the environmental challenges are completely absent today. A smoke haze has blanketed Melbourne since yesterday, as winds blew down the smoke from a fire in the Otway ranges which has grown to about 8,000 hectares overnight.

Air quality alerts have been issued across Melbourne, Geelong and the surrounding regions, while a total fire ban remains in place for the Northern Country, North Central, North East, and Gippsland fire districts.

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Updated at 19.30 EST

Tennis fans not fortunate enough to be in Melbourne are no doubt feeling the FOMO of missing out on the Australian Open. But having had to swelter through it, I can tell you day seven probably wasn’t too bad a day to miss.

Play on the outside courts was paused and arena roofs were closed as the Heat Stress Scale moved above 5.0, as players, officials, and fans alike scrambled for shade, fluids and any kind of relief they could find.

Jack Snape recounted a sweltering day Down Under.

Tumaini Carayol, meanwhile, has dived into how those tasked with playing in these conditions tried to beat the heat.

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Updated at 19.28 EST

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The other contender for yesterday’s biggest story came later in the evening, when Naomi Osaka (16) withdrew from the Australian Open just hours before she was set to face Aussie qualifier Maddison Inglis, citing an abdominal injury linked to body changes from her pregnancy.

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We had a big few stories yesterday but a contender for the biggest fortune, and a enforced heat break, coming to the aid of Jannik Sinner (2) as he struggled with full-body cramps in the stifling conditions against 85th-ranked American Eliot Spizzirri.

Tumaini Carayol was there for that one and recapped what became a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win for the Italian.

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Updated at 19.06 EST

Preamble

Howdy, y’all. It’s ya boi Joey Lynch here, and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of a mercifully cooler day eight of the Australian Open. After yesterday’s stifling conditions the mercury has dipped significantly ahead of today’s action: highs of more than 40C yesterday giving way to forecast a top of 25C today, with it currently sitting at 19.7C as we prepare for the morning’s action.

Aryna Sabalenka (1) and Victoria Mboko’s (17) meeting on Rod Laver Arena is the pick of the early matches, and we’ll follow along with that one when it gets under way at 11.30.

Carlos Alcaraz (1) and Tommy Paul (19) are then scheduled to follow on Rod Laver, that one starting no earlier than 1.30pm, and we’ll be following along with that one, too. Alex de Minaur (6) and Alexander Bublik’s (10) meeting and Elina Svitolina (12) and Mirra Andreeva’s (8) clash will then follow in the evening session.

Coco Gauff (3) is set to face off with Karolina Muchova (19) out on Margaret Court Arena no earlier than 2.30pm, and the prospect of another marathon between Daniil Medvedev (11) and Learner Tien (25) awaits when they take the court following that contest.

Yulia Putintseva and Iva Jovic (29), as well as Alexander Zverev (3) and Francisco Cerundolo (18) will also be in action on John Cain.

So, let’s do it, to it. It being tennis, that is.

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