Day 4 Australian Open order of play: Sabalenka and Raducanu one win from a meeting

Sixty-four WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz matches are in the books and already surprises abound. Four seeds from the top half of the draw are out -- and four qualifiers are through to the second round.

Elsa Jacquemot of France displayed some serious stamina to take out No. 20 Marta Kostyuk in the first women’s triple tiebreak in the Open era at the Australian Open. Jacquemot was down a set and 5-3, saved a match point and prevailed in 3 hours, 31 minutes.

Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez was a three-set winner over No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova and was joined by fellow qualifiers Storm Hunter, Linda Klimovicova and Zhuoxuan Bai.

We can’t wait for Wednesday’s second round, which includes four Top 10 seeds:

No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka vs. Zhuoxuan Bai

Head-to-head: 0-0

No woman has been more consistent than Sabalenka in majors over the past three years. She’s played in 11 of them, winning four titles, losing three finals, three semifinals and one quarterfinal (2024 Roland Garros).

How has she maintained that sort of upset-proof play in the biggest tournaments?

“Maybe because I'm not really thinking about that,” Sabalenka said. “I'm just taking one step at a time. I'm trying to be as present as possible and always thinking on improving myself as a player and a person. I think that's why I was able to be really consistent on court.”

Sabalenka was a 6-4, 6-1 winner over wild card Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah in the first round, and now she faces another upstart -- Bai, a 23-year-old from China ranked No. 702.

No. 3 Coco Gauff vs. Olga Danilovic

Head-to-head: 0-0

Gauff, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Kamilla Rakhimova, has won four of her first five matches this year, including a definitive win over World No. 2 Iga Swiatek in United Cup play.

Meanwhile, Danilovic came back from a set down to defeat venerable Venus Williams. Gauff is aware of the No. 69-ranked Serbian’s capabilities.

“I remember she beat Jess [Pegula] I think it was two years ago and obviously had a good match last night,” Gauff said. “It's going to be a tough match. I think she's a talented player. Not often I get to play a lefty. It will be tough.”

No. 7 Jasmine Paolini vs. Magdalena Frech

Head-to-head: 0-0

Paolini is the only Top 10 singles player also competing here in doubles. She and Sara Errani -- who also, uh, doubles as one of her coaches -- are the No. 2 seeds, behind Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend.

“I like to play doubles and I think, you know, it can help me to stay in the competition,” Paolini said. “Also to share the court with Sara is great.”

Paolini breezed past qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1, 6-2, while Frech was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Veronika Erjavec.

No. 8 Mirra Andreeva vs. Maria Sakkari

Head-to-head: 0-0

This one could be fun, for Sakkari is showing early signs she might be returning to the form that brought her to a pair of Indian Wells finals and three year-end Top 10 finishes. Sakkari, staging a Greek revival at 30, beat both Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu at the United Cup.

She credits tweaks to her serve and forehand under the guidance of coach Tom Hill. You could see that in her 6-4, 6-2 win over Leolia Jeanjean.

Andreeva, the champion in Adelaide, will be a tough out. She fought off Donna Vekic 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 in a testing first-round match and is eager to put together another run like last year’s back-to-back titles in Dubai and Doha.

No. 17 Victoria Mboko vs. Caty McNally

Head-to-head: 1-0, McNally, 2024 Austin

Mboko looked tired in the Adelaide final after earlier playing three consecutive matches, but the Canadian teenager scored a crisp 6-4, 6-1 win here over Australian wild card Emerson Jones.

“I felt pretty good on court today,” Mboko told reporters. “I didn't feel too super tired. Mentally I just wanted to put in my head that it's a continuation of the tournament and not really think too much of having to sort of have a brand-new week, brand-new everything.”

McNally was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over qualifier Himeno Sakatsume.

No. 19 Karolina Muchova vs. Alycia Parks

Head-to-head: 1-0, Parks, 2025 Roland Garros first round

Muchova started the season quickly by beating Top 10 players Alexandrova and Elena Rybakina in Brisbane before falling to Sabalenka in the semifinals. She dispatched Jaqueline Cristian in straight sets.

Parks overcame Alexandra Eala and her contingent of supportive fans with a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory. Parks, ranked No. 99, is a go-for-it player; against Eala, she had 12 aces and 10 double faults.

No. 28 Emma Raducanu vs. Anastasia Potapova

Head-to-head: 0-0

Raducanu advanced with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Mananchaya Sawangkaew, while Potapova was pushed by Suzan Lamens 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Order of play: Day 4 Australian Open

Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 (local) | Tuesday night ET

Rod Laver Arena

11:30 a.m. local; 7:30 p.m. ET (Tuesday)

-- Aryna Sabalenka [1] vs Zhuoxuan Bai (CHN)

Not before 2 p.m. local; 10 p.m. ET (Tuesday)

-- Carlos Alcaraz [1] vs Yannick Hanfmann (GER)

7 p.m. local; 3 a.m. ET (Wednesday)

-- Hamad Medjedovic (SRB) vs Alex de Minaur (AUS) [6]
-- Iva Jovic (USA) [29] vs Priscilla Hon (AUS)

Margaret Court Arena

11:30 a.m. local; 7:30 p.m. ET (Tuesday)

-- Jaime Faria (POR) vs Andrey Rublev [13]

Not before 1 p.m. local; 9 p.m. ET (Tuesday)

-- Coco Gauff [3] vs Olga Danilovic (SRB)

7 p.m. local; 3 a.m. ET (Wednesday)

-- Maria Sakkari (GRE) vs Mirra Andreeva [8]
-- Frances Tiafoe [29] vs Francisco Comesana (ARG)

John Cain Arena

11 a.m. local; 7 p.m. ET (Tuesday)

-- Elina Svitolina [12] vs Linda Klimovicova (POL)
-- Daniil Medvedev [11] vs Quentin Halys (FRA)

5 p.m. local; 1 a.m. ET (Wednesday)

-- Elena-Gabriela Ruse (ROU) vs Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS)

Not before 6:30 p.m. local; 2:30 a.m. ET (Wednesday)

-- Alexander Zverev [3] vs Alexandre Muller (FRA)

KIA Arena

11 a.m. local; 7 p.m. ET (Tuesday)

-- Talia Gibson (AUS) vs Diana Shnaider [23]
-- Reilly Opelka (USA) vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina [14]
-- Alexander Bublik [10] vs Marton Fucsovics (HUN)
-- Magdalena Frech (POL) vs Jasmine Paolini [7]

1573 Arena

11 a.m. local; 7 p.m. ET (Tuesday)

-- Tommy Paul [19] vs Thiago Agustin Tirante (ARG)
-- Victoria Mboko [17] vs Caty McNally (USA)
-- Jordan Thompson (AUS) vs Nuno Borges (POR)
-- Karolina Muchova [19] vs Alycia Parks (USA)

ANZ Arena

11 a.m. local; 7 p.m. ET (Tuesday)

-- Francisco Cerundolo [18] vs Damir Dzumhur (BIH)
-- Storm Hunter (AUS) vs Hailey Baptiste (USA)
-- Anastasia Potapova (AUT) vs Emma Raducanu [28]
-- Learner Tien [25] vs Alexander Shevchenko (KAZ)

Court 5

11 a.m. local; 7 p.m. ET (Tuesday)

-- Lizette Cabrera / Taylah Preston vs Xinyu Wang / Saisai Zheng
-- Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) vs Elsa Jacquemot (FRA)
-- Katarzyna Piter / Janice Tjen vs Daria Kasatkina / Arina Rodionova
-- Robert Cash / JJ Tracy [14] vs Constantin Frantzen / Robin Haase

Court 6

11 a.m. local; 7 p.m. ET (Tuesday)

-- Kamil Majchrzak (POL) vs Fabian Marozsan (HUN)

Not before 1 p.m. local; 9 p.m. ET (Tuesday)

-- Polina Kudermetova (UZB) vs Clara Tauson [14]
-- Michael Zheng (USA) vs Corentin Moutet [32]
-- Ann Li (USA) vs Magda Linette (POL)

Court 7

11 a.m. local; 7 p.m. ET (Tuesday)

-- Zeynep Sonmez (TUR) vs Anna Bondar (HUN)
-- Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG) vs Arthur Fery (GBR)
-- Su-Wei Hsieh / Jelena Ostapenko [3] vs Olivia Gadecki / Desirae Krawczyk
-- Emilio Nava (USA) vs Cameron Norrie [26]

Court 8

11 a.m. local; 7 p.m. ET (Tuesday)

-- Tatjana Maria / Simona Waltert vs Mariia Kozyreva / Sabrina Santamaria
-- Katerina Siniakova / Taylor Townsend [1] vs Magali Kempen / Anna Siskova
-- James McCabe / Li Tu vs Zizou Bergs / Raphael Collignon
-- Yifan Xu / Zhaoxuan Yang vs Antonia Ruzic / Renata Zarazua

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