A win and a defeat were the Italians' tally on the first day of the 2026 Australian Open . Jasmine Paolini dominated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1 6-2 while Flavio Cobolli lost 76(1) 64 61 to Arthur Fery and stomach problems . Carlos Alcaraz's adventure got off to a good start: the world number 1 qualified for the second round of the Melbourne tournament by beating Australian Adam Walton in three sets 6-3, 7-6, 6-2 .
Paolini, ranked and seeded No. 7 , started her seventh consecutive appearance in the main draw of the Australian Grand Slam with a clear success. After four consecutive first-round eliminations (2020-2023), in 2024 she achieved her best result with a round of 16 appearance. Last year, however, she was eliminated in the third round by Svitolina. In the next round, the Italian will play against Slovenian Veronika Erjavec (102 WTA) or Polish Magdalena Frech (57) . The Italian No. 1 saved the only break point she conceded and closed on the fourth match point against qualifier Sasnovich.
"I played a very solid match from start to finish, I'm very happy," said the Italian, who also expressed satisfaction with the initial results of her work with Danilo Pizzorno and Sara Errani, her doubles partner and new member of her team this year. " We're working on many things, especially on serve and return . Tennis is going in that direction, shorter, faster, and more powerful rallies. You have to start well, otherwise it gets tough," she said.
Flavio Cobolli surprisingly left Australia early, losing in three sets to Britain's Arthur Fery. Repeated stomach problems weakened him throughout the match , which was also punctuated by a lengthy five-minute video review that confirmed the Briton's break in the seventh game of the first set.
"I'm very sad, but these are things you can't control. I started feeling sick right before the game. I don't think it's related to the tension, because I'm getting worse and worse."
Jannik Sinner continues his buildup to Tuesday's opener (9 a.m. on Rod Laver Arena) against Frenchman Hugo Gaston . The Italian trained on Court 10 with China's Shang. Jannik was greeted by another crowd, as he remained focused and attentive throughout the entire session.
(Unioneonline)
