Wang Meili fiercely battled with "Oupang," the Strait duo lost, three Masters champions are neck and neck, and the defending champion won the derby.

Three minutes daily to catch up on global tennis news. Hello tennis fans, today is Thursday, January 22, 2026. Welcome to the midday news update brought to you by "Tennis Home."

This morning Beijing time, the 2026 Australian Open continued with matches on its fifth day. Chinese players include Wang Xinyu facing Latvian star Ostapenko on Court 6; Shang Juncheng competing against Dutch player Van de Zandschulp on Court 7; Wu Yibing playing American Spizzirri on Court 13; and Zhang Shuai, Guo Hanyu, and Jiang Xinyu participating in the first round of doubles.

At the time of reporting, the match between Wang Xinyu and Ostapenko had reached the second set. Wang Xinyu lost the first set 4-6. Meanwhile, Shang Juncheng’s match was at the fifth game of the first set, tied 2-2.

In a women’s doubles first-round match that ended near noon, the 14th-seeded Strait duo Jiang Xinyu / Zhan Haoqing were defeated 6-3, 5-7, 6-7(1-10) by Blinkova / Laksimova, missing out on advancement.

Let’s turn to the men’s court: This morning Beijing time, in the second round of the lower half singles draw, the three players holding Masters titles all performed excellently and advanced. Shanghai Masters champion Vachier defeated local player Tsuchihara 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Miami Masters champion Menchik won convincingly 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 over Spanish youngster Hodar; Paris Masters champion Khachanov beat American rising star Basavareddy 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.

The ten-time champion Djokovic took the court near noon to face qualifier, Italian player Mastrelli. At the time of this report, Djokovic had taken the first set 6-3. Fans generally believe the Serbian star will win easily; it’s just a question of how many games the Italian can claim.

In the men’s singles upper half second round matches concluded last night Beijing time, top seed Alcaraz defeated German Hanfmann 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-2 and will face French player Moutet next; third seed Zverev beat Frenchman A. Muller 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and will meet British player Norrie in round three; sixth seed De Minaur came back from a set down to defeat Serbian Mejedovic 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 and will play American Tiafoe next; tenth seed Bublyk defeated Hungarian Fucsovics 7-5, 6-4, 7-5, facing Argentine veteran Echeverry next; eleventh seed Medvedev reversed Frenchman Alizé 6-7(9), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and will meet Hungarian Marosan in the third round.

On the women’s singles court, in the second round matches held this morning Beijing time, defending champion Keys played steadily to beat fellow American Krueger 6-1, 7-5, advancing smoothly to the third round. In another all-American clash, Pegula dominated Kessler 6-0, 6-2, also moving forward strongly.

Spanish star Badosa was upset by Russian Selekhmeteva with two 6-4 sets, failing to reach the round of 32. Last year’s semifinalist Badosa will see her world ranking drop sharply after the Australian Open. In another match, returning Czech star Ka-Pliskova defeated Indonesia’s top player Zeng Meili 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the round of 32.

Yesterday’s second round saw third seed Gauff dominate Danilovic 6-2, 6-2; seventh seed Borrani beat Fletcher 6-2, 6-3; eighth seed Mira Andreeva swept Sakari 6-0, 6-4; nineteenth seed Mukhova came back from a set down to defeat Parks 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Most other seeded players also won and advanced, with the only upset being 28th seed and UK’s top player Raducanu losing 6-7, 2-6 to Austrian Potapova.

In the women’s doubles first round matches that day, besides Zhang Shuai / Mertens winning, the Chinese duo Xu Yifan / Yang Zhaoxuan also started strong by beating Ruzic / Zarazua 6-4, 6-2. Next, they will face top seeds Siniakova / Townsend.

Let’s look at a player update. Yesterday Beijing time, former world No.1 doubles player from Taiwan, Latisha Chan, officially announced her retirement. Latisha’s original Chinese name is Zhan Yongran. At 36 years old, she holds 33 tour doubles titles, including the 2017 US Open women’s doubles championship and three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. Do you remember her?

Finally, a guess and recognition challenge. The photo below shows a player winning at the Australian Open some years ago. He has since retired. Without hints, can you identify who he is?

Last time’s guessing game had fans giving the correct answer. Indeed, the person in the photo is the local player Sweeney, who defeated French star Monfils at the Australian Open.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Independent Thinker)