Australian Open takeaways: Best matches, shots and moments from Melbourne

Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court.

This week, the Australian Open concluded with two gripping finals. Elena Rybakina denied a comeback from Aryna Sabalenka to win an absorbing women’s final, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, before Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic played a men’s final with tennis history on the line no matter the outcome. Alcaraz won 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5, dashing Djokovic’s latest attempt to win a record 25th Grand Slam title, and becoming the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam in the process.

The Athletic’s tennis team, Matthew Futterman, Charlie Eccleshare and James Hansen, present their takeaways from the first Grand Slam of 2026, from the best shots and funniest moments to the biggest disappointments and the most incredible matches.

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Best match?

Charlie Eccleshare: It’s a toss-up between the two men’s semifinals, but I’m going for Novak Djokovic defeating Jannik Sinner, because of how high the quality was and how significant it felt.

There was also an element of surprise, given how undercooked Djokovic had been against Lorenzo Musetti a couple of days earlier, as well as how much he had suffered at the hands of Sinner the previous couple of years.

For him to somehow roll back the years and produce one of the best performances of his career was staggering. That the match finished at around 1:30 a.m. made it feel even more surreal, especially off the back of the epic Carlos Alcaraz vs. Alexander Zverev semifinal just before.

To upstage that was always going to take some doing. Djokovic and Sinner more than managed it.

Matthew Futterman: There are only two candidates, really. I have to go with Djokovic and Sinner. As Zverev said, Alcaraz didn’t play for about 90 minutes of their match. That wasn’t great to watch.

James Hansen: Clara Tauson vs. Victoria Mboko was the best match of the entire tournament until men’s semifinal day. High tension, high quality, two rising players fighting for the chance to play world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Favorite match?

Eccleshare: Stan Wawrinka beating the Frenchman Arthur Géa in five sets to reach the third round on a raucous Kia Arena.

Former champion Wawrinka is such a crowd favorite here, and with this being the 40-year-old wildcard’s final appearance at Melbourne Park, he was supported so much that he felt like an honorary Aussie.

Wawrinka reveled in the role, and produced a thrilling comeback from two sets to one down to beat Géa, a qualifier almost half his age.

When he won the fourth set with a trademark backhand winner down the line, followed by his familiar point to the temple, it felt like something from a Greatest Hits tour.

The nerveless match tiebreak he produced to finish the contest was a fitting encore.

Futterman: Coco Gauff vs. Karolína Muchová … Two phenomenal athletes. Three sets. Loved it.

Hansen: Not the greatest quality, but the sheer drama of Marta Kostyuk vs. Elsa Jacquemot in the first round was impossible to look away from, despite how it led to so many strange errors and points that seesawed this way and that. Three tiebreaks, an injury that Kostyuk almost belied, and then, for the last act, a series of gifts to each other before Jacquemot hit her two best forehands of the match at the most important time.

Best shot?

Eccleshare: It wasn’t the best shot as such, but having sat on Rod Laver Arena for five-and-a-half hours for the Carlos Alcaraz vs. Alexander Zverev semifinal, I want to honor it in some way.

The running forehand pass that Alcaraz hit to win the match was a moment of genius that kept him on the path to a first title here and the career Grand Slam.

It was particularly resonant because it was the same type of shot that Alcaraz produced to beat Jannik Sinner and win last year’s scarcely believable French Open final.

Futterman: I will go with a sequence from the Alcaraz vs. Novak Djokovic final. Djokovic caught up to a short backhand crosscourt from Alcaraz and went around the net post. Alcaraz somehow got there to block it back. Maybe my two favorite shots of the tournament, and the moment when Alcaraz put the dagger in Djokovic’s heart — and his bid for a 25th Grand Slam title.

Hansen: Maria Sakkari’s squash-shot forehand return against Léolia Jeanjean in the first round that left even Sakkari in total disbelief.

Favorite quote?

Eccleshare: “Our producer tried it and was, like, the grossest thing. All I could envision — (and) I definitely made it worse in my head — because I was envisioning, like, a Kraft Singles, gross, square piece of cheese. She’s like, ‘No, you use a good piece of cheddar.’ Doesn’t make it better.”

Madison Keys on her fourth-round opponent and podcast co-host Jessica Pegula’s apple pie with cheese dessert of choice.

Futterman: The on-court interviewer trying to make Novak Djokovic sound triumphant after Lorenzo Musetti’s retirement. Novak’s comment was: “I was on my way home.” Also: “What are we, animals in the zoo?” from Iga Świątek on the ubiquitous cameras at the Australian Open.

Hansen: Speaking in Spanish after winning his seventh Grand Slam title and completing the career Grand Slam, Carlos Alcaraz said that he would resist the temptation to think his tennis legend is already written, and said that being a tennis legend meant showing up at the same events, with the same ambition, year after year. Watch out.

Best player who did not reach the quarterfinals?

Eccleshare: Victoria Mboko. Not a breakout star given her Canadian Open win last year, but this was her first second-week appearance at a Slam, and represented another important step in her development.

The way Mboko then took it to Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round brought back memories of her fearlessness in taking out four Grand Slam champions en route to that title in Toronto. Sabalenka was hugely impressed with Mboko’s performance and the way she fought back from match points down on the world No. 1’s serve to force a second-set tiebreak.

Up to a career-high ranking of No. 13, Mboko looks set to build on her breakthrough 2025.

Futterman: Nikola Bartůňková of the Czech Republic is coming for tennis — I think… Honorable mention to Michael Zheng. Good luck in your final semester at Columbia, Michael.

Hansen: It has to be Bartůňková. To lose two bagel sets against one former and one current top-10 player, but win both matches in which they occur, is silly. And her game, a sort of mixture of Karolína Muchová’s finesse and Mirra Andreeva’s weighty groundstrokes, has all the tools to carry her toward the top of the sport.

Worst prediction?

Eccleshare: When the top six seeds all reach the quarterfinals in both draws, there’s less scope for hugely embarrassing predictions.

But like pretty much everyone, I gave Novak Djokovic next to no chance against Jannik Sinner in the semifinals. I’ll never write him off again. Until the next time.

Futterman: As Charlie and I were walking into the grounds on Friday afternoon, we agreed that Alexander Zverev and Djokovic would win one set combined in their semifinals. We may have even discussed the possibility of a not-so-late dinner after the Sinner vs. Djokovic match.

We left the grounds around 3:30 a.m., with Zverev and Djokovic having won five sets and one match.

Hansen: I was quite sure that Iga Świątek, who was hitting form at the right time, would be able to handle Elena Rybakina. Instead, Rybakina’s use of her serve as a release valve in tight moments exposed how much work Świątek has to do on her own, even as she builds back to playing the type of tennis she wants to make the hallmark of her game again.

Biggest letdown?

Eccleshare: The complete lack of drama and jeopardy until the second Friday. Only a combined three of the men’s and women’s completed fourth rounds and quarterfinals weren’t straight sets, which was a major disappointment.

Futterman: Is Stefanos Tsitsipas really finished?

Hansen: It did not affect what happened on the ground in Melbourne, but the constant reports of unexpected paywalls, crashes, missing matches and much more on ESPN’s coverage of the Australian Open were another instance of the relationship between tennis and media not quite working out. So too when Maria Sakkari hit her absurd forehand in the opening round, and the WTA could not even share it on social media because of rights issues.

Abiding memory?

Eccleshare: Elena Rybakina standing at the baseline with the score at 5-4, 30-30 on her serve in the deciding set of the final against Aryna Sabalenka. A couple of points from the title or from being broken and suddenly being second favorite again.

She produced a service winner and an ace, and that was that. I won’t forget the way the ball flew off her racket and landed perfectly in the far corner of the service box. Then the roar and collective rising as one to hail the new champion.

Futterman: How angry and unphilosophical Jannik Sinner was with the press after the Novak Djokovic loss. I’ve never seen him mad and snappy like that. We’ll see where it takes him.

Hansen: Eliot Spizzirri’s livid grin as the roof closed on Rod Laver Arena with the American on the cusp of going two sets to one up against a completely compromised Sinner. The rules were followed and the heat rule is required for players’ safety. But Spizzirri’s disbelief was still hard to watch without feeling bad for him.

🏆 The winners of the week

🎾 ATP:

🏆 Carlos Alcaraz (1) def. Novak Djokovic (4) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 to win the Australian Open in Melbourne It is his seventh Grand Slam title.

🎾 WTA:

🏆 Elena Rybakina (5) def. Aryna Sabalenka (1) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to win the Australian Open in Melbourne. It is her second Grand Slam title.

📈📉 On the rise / Down the line

📈 Elena Rybakina rises two places from No. 5 to No. 3 after winning her second major at the Australian Open.

📈 Novak Djokovic replaces Alexander Zverev as world No. 3 after his run to the final in Melbourne, with Zverev failing to defend his finals points from 2025.

📈 Iva Jović moves up seven places from No. 27 to a career-high ranking of No. 20.

📈 Eliot Spizzirri ascends 14 places from No. 85 to a career-high ranking of No. 71 after reaching the third round of the Australian Open.

📉 Lorenzo Sonego drops 20 places from No. 40 to No. 60.

📉 Madison Keys falls six places from No. 9 to No. 15 after Jessica Pegula ended her Australian Open title defense in the fourth round.

📉 Jiří Lehečka exits the top 20, descending two places from No. 19 to No. 21.

📉 Eva Lys falls 20 places from No. 39 to No. 59.

📅 Coming up

🎾 ATP

📍Montpellier, France: Occitanie Open (250) featuring Félix Auger-Aliassime, Hubert Hurkacz, Tomáš Macháč, Flavio Cobolli.

📍Various locations: Davis Cup Qualifiers featuring Alexander Blockx, Jack Draper, Casper Ruud, Ethan Quinn.

📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel 💻, Tennis TV

🎾 WTA

📍Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi Open (500) featuring Belinda Bencic, Clara Tauson, Leylah Fernandez, Janice Tjen.

📍Cluj, Romania: Transylvania Open (250) featuring Emma Raducanu, Olga Danilović, Wang Xinyu, Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

📍Ostrava, Czech Republic: Ostrava Open (250) featuring Tatjana Maria, Hailey Baptiste, Nikola Bartůňková, Linda Fruhvirtová.

📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel

Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below as the men’s and women’s tours continue.

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