Australian Open 2026 results: World no.1 Carlos Alcaraz shone under the Melbourne spotlight, storming into the Australian Open semifinals on Tuesday, while fellow top seed Aryna Sabalenka kept her composure in the scorching heat to stay on track for another title.
Alexander Zverev faced a brief scare under the Rod Laver Arena roof before defeating Learner Tien, whereas Coco Gauff lost her cool, smashing her racket after a surprising loss to a resurgent Elina Svitolina.
Alcaraz followed up with a commanding 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 win over Alex de Minaur on the main showcourt, crushing the sixth seed’s hopes of becoming Australia’s first homegrown men’s champion in five decades.
The 22-year-old six-time major winner now aims to make history at Melbourne Park, with a chance to surpass Don Budge as the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam.
“It was a great match in terms of level, in terms of the intensity. I played the best match so far in the tournament,” Alcaraz told reporters.
“This is my first official tournament of the year and sometimes I’m not that patient. In the first match I really wanted to play at my best level. This is almost impossible. You have to get the rhythm of the competition again.”
Sabalenka, chasing her third title in four years, also got into a high gear for a dominant 6-3 6-0 win over 18-year-old Iva Jovic on a sweltering Centre Court, where the roof was open with the “Heat Stress Scale” not at its highest threshold.
Shortly after her victory, though, tournament organisers invoked the extreme heat policy as temperatures crossed the 40 Celsius (104F) mark, prompting the suspension of play on the outer courts and the closure of roofs on the main ones.
“It was hot out there. I guess as women, we are stronger than the guys, so they had to close the roof for the guys, so they don’t suffer,” Sabalenka joked.
“I knew going into this match they won’t let us play in crazy heat. If it would reach five (on the Heat Stress Scale) they would close the roof.”
The four-times Grand Slam champion was less pleased with the Australian Open’s ban on wearable fitness tracking devices after some players were told to remove them before matches.
Up next for Sabalenka is Ukrainian 12th seed Svitolina, who took full advantage of Gauff’s woes on serve and reached her first Australian Open semi-final with a 6-1 6-2 victory in under an hour.
“It was a good day in the office,” said Svitolina, who is finding her best form after a mental health break last year.
“Very pleased with the way that I’ve been playing, not only this match, but I think the tournament overall.”
Gauff later looked for a place without cameras to channel her frustration and was unhappy to find out that a video of her obliterating her racket on a concrete floor inside Melbourne Park was broadcast to viewers worldwide.
“I kind of have a thing with the broadcasters,” she said.
“I feel like certain moments — the same thing happened to Aryna after I played her in final of the U.S. Open in 2023. I feel like they don’t need to broadcast it.”
The decision to close the roof made conditions easier for the players, but Zverev was unable to get into his comfort zone against Tien, losing the second set to the American and being taken to a tiebreak in the fourth.
Despite being tested, Zverev said he was confident he could get past Tien in what he called perfect conditions.
“It’s great. I would love to play with the roof every single match, so it was not difficult,” he said. “It was difficult physically, but it was not difficult with the conditions.”
The German third seed, runner-up to Jannik Sinner last year, secured a 6-3 6-7(5) 6-1 7-6(3) victory to stay on course for a first Grand Slam trophy but the path will get tougher with Alcaraz up next.
(With Agency Inputs)
