Ailing Auger-Aliassime leads 1st-round Canadian exodus out of Australian Open

It's been a rough start for Canada's men at the 2026 Australian Open.

A day after Gabriel Diallo of Montreal and Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., lost their opening-round singles matches, Felix Auger-Aliassime was one and done Down Under as well.

Auger-Aliassime, seeded seventh in the major tournament, beat 28-year-old Nuno Borges of Portugal 6-3 in the opener of their best-of-five match on Monday, but then lost 6-4, 6-4 and then retired with the score tied 15-15 in the first game of the fourth set.

The Canadian seemed to struggle with leg cramps through the match.

"I'm OK, but I just started cramping at the start of the third set," Auger-Aliassime said after. "It became very difficult to be competitive at this level. I tried for a set, but yeah, wasn't possible today."

"I want to be on the court winning. I want to be on the court competing with my opponent. I don't want to be just standing there like a punching bag. So there's no point, and you know to move on."

"I feel for him," said Borges. "I know how he feels to struggle physically and it is part of tennis. I hope he gets better quickly and back to his best level."

Borges advances to play Australian wild card Jordan Thompson in the second round.

Denis Shapovalov is moving on to the Australian Open second round after beating wild card Bu Yunchaokete of China 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-1 in his opening match at the grand slam tennis tournament.

Shapovalov, the 21st seed, hit 19 aces and converted 3-of-8 break point chances without being broken to win the match in two hours 15 minutes.

The 26-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., also struck 47 winners to just 11 for Bu. He'll play Croatia's Marin Cilic in the next round.

Shapovalov is the only Canadian remaining in men's singles after seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal retired from his first-round match against Portugal's Nuno Borges. Montreal's Gabriel Diallo and Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., lost in their opening-round matches.

Earlier Monday, Canadian breakout star Victoria Mboko needed only 72 minutes to defeat Emerson Jones of Australia 6-4, 6-1 in the women's singles first round.

Mboko, 19, won 77 per cent of her first serve points and 59 per cent of her points on second serve. She will play American Caty McNally in the second round.

Qualifier Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., was trailing Priscilla Hon of Australia 5-3 in the decisive third set on Monday when she opted to retire after two hours of play.

Stakusic won the opening set 6-1, then lost 6-4 forcing a third and deciding set. About two hours into the match she collapsed in a heap near the baseline.

She left the court in a wheelchair after experiencing severe cramps. Hon helped her into the chair and off the court.

"It's so tough to see, 21 years old, second time she has qualified for a Grand Slam main draw," Hon said after the match. "It's so rough. Really concerning moments.

The Canadian finished with two aces, 20 winners, 34 unforced errors and five double faults. Hon had three aces, two double faults, 22 unforced errors and 22 winners.

Paolini's fast start highlights opening day

Seventh seed Jasmine Paolini got the dominant start she wanted, defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour at the Rod Laver Arena.

Paolini took the first set in just 27 minutes on the main show court at Melbourne Park, giving the crowd what they wanted as the first Grand Slam of the season got underway.

Elsewhere, No. 12 Elina Svitolina defeated Cristina Bucsa 6-4, 6-1, and Maria Sakkari won over Leolia Jeanjean 6-4, 6-2.

In other early matches, No. 20 Flavio Cobolli became the first seeded man to lose. Arthur Fery defeated Cobolli 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-1.

Also, No. 18 seed Francisco Cerundolo beat Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 7-6 (0), 6-3, and No. 32 seed Corentin Moutet defeated Tristan Schoolkate 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3.

The No. 1 seeds for men and women headline Sunday's night session. Aryna Sabalenka faces Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, and Carlos Alcaraz goes against Adam Walton.

Sabalenka is after her third Australia Open title and was the runner-up to Madison Keys a year ago. She has reached the last three finals and won two.

Canada to face No. 9 Kazakhstan in BJK Cup qualifiers

Fourth-ranked Canada has been drawn to play No. 9 Kazakhstan in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers this April, Tennis Canada said Monday.

The winning team will advance to the eight-team finals in Shenzhen, China, in September.

Host Kazakhstan will choose the playing surface and venue for the best-of-five April 10-11 tie at a later date.

Two singles matches will be played on the first day. Doubles will kick off play on the second day, followed by two singles matches.

Canada earned a berth in the qualifiers by finishing atop its group in the 2025 playoffs. Canada won the women's team tournament in 2024.

Canada earned a 3-2 victory over Kazakhstan in their only previous meeting at the 2017 World Group II playoffs in Montreal.

Alcaraz has never played Aussie Open semi

Alcaraz is trying to become the youngest man to win a career Grand Slam. The 22-year-old Spaniard has won twice in the other three Grand Slams but has not been past the quarterfinals at the Australia Open.

No. 2 seed Jannik Sinner, the two-time defending Australian Open champion, has combined with Alcaraz to win the last eight Grand Slam trophies.

Djokovic wins 100th Aussie match

Novak Djokovic equaled two all-time tennis records by starting his 21st Australian Open, and he added another milestone Monday night with his 100th win at Melbourne Park.

He liked the sound of it.

"I mean, what can I say? I like the sound of it — centurion is pretty nice," the 24-time major winner said after his 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 first-round win over Pedro Martinez of Spain. "Nice feeling."

The 38-year-old Djokovic is now 100-10 at the Australian Open, where he's won 10 titles. He also has won 102 at Wimbledon and 101 at Roland Garros.

What he really wants more than anything is six more in the next two weeks, enough to win a 25th major and become the most decorated tennis player of all time.

By starting his 21st Australian Open campaign, he equaled the tournament record held by Roger Federer. By starting his 81st Grand Slam tournament, he equaled another record that Federer shared with Feliciano Lopez.

"History making is a great motivation," he said.

Djokovic showed signs of vintage form, with a running crosscourt forehand winner in the first set taking the adoring crowd at Rod Laver Arena back to his prime.

He didn't face a breakpoint in a clean serving performance, had a 1st serve points won percentage of 93 and he fired 14 aces, including one on match point. 

Venus Williams, 45, sets record in loss

It took 45 years to be in a position to set a record that has drawn so much attention. So another 14 1/2 minutes serving to keep her Australian Open hopes alive felt like no time at all for Venus Williams.

Ranked No. 576 and playing on a wild-card entry, the seven-time major winner led 4-0 in the third set Sunday before Olga Danilovic rallied to win six straight games — getting the vital break in the extra-long, next-to-last game — for a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 victory.

"It was an amazing journey on the court today," said Williams, who left the stadium with a smile and a wave.

By starting the first-round match, Williams became the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open singles main draw, surpassing the mark set by Japan's Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she lost in the first round in 2015.

"I'm really proud of my effort today because I'm playing better with each match, getting to the places that I want to get to," Williams said. "Right now, I'm just going to have to keep going forward and working on myself and working to control my errors.

"Those are things, too, that come with playing extra matches … all of those things that I'm still learning. It's kind of weird, but it's super exciting to have played that well and to get myself in that position and come very close."

Williams has never won the Australian Open. She made the finals in 2003 and 2017 and lost both times to her sister, Serena. She won five Wimbledon titles and two at the U.S. Open.