2h agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 12:01amWhat’s coming up on day nine

Here are the Aussies who we have coming up on Australia day, also known as day nine:

Live now:

Li Tu/James McCabe (WC) vs Jason Kubler/Marc Polmans (WC) – on Margaret Court

Coming up

Kristina Mladenovic/Guo Hanyu (16) vs Talia Gibson vs Kim Birrell (WC) – second on Margaret Court Maddison Inglis (Q) vs Iga Świątek (2) – From 7:00pm on Rod LaverJames Tracy/Anna Danilina vs Leylah Fernandez/Nick Kyrgios (WC) – third on John CainMaya Joint/Matthew Romios (WC) vs Mate Pavić/Aleksanda Krunić (5) – fourth on John Cain5m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 2:02amDefending champion Madison Keys is out

The defending champion is out!

Huge kudos to Jessica Pegula. She came out the blocks so quickly, earning a quick break of serve and never let up.

She completes the win against her great friend Madison Keys 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 18 minutes.

The two women hug at the net – a nice way to end.

It was brilliant from Pegula. Did everything she needed to do and then let Keys’s own errors beat her.

Keys hit 26 winners but 28 unforced errors against Pegula’s 14 winners and 13 unforced errors.

8m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:59am

Keys makes Pegula serve it out

Good hold for Keys.

Pegula though will have a chance to serve out the match and earn a spot in the quarterfinals.

10m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:57am

Pegula with a brave hold!

Keys was so close to getting this second set back on serve – earning a break point.

But Pegula squeezed Keys with an accurate serve that just cramped the defending champion enough to force the error with the return, which went long.

It’s disappointing from Keys to be honest – because she didn’t need to try and hit a winner there. She’s trying to force it too much – just as she has all match.

Keys serving to stay in the match.

19m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:48am

Keys breaks back!

This is not done yet!

Keys bounces straight back with four-straight points to win the game and get back to within one break of serve.

The pressure is clearly still on the defending champion.

But she’s not going down without a fight.

She holds serve to be 4-3 down with Pegula to serve, just a slight shift back in momentum.

20m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:47am

Kubler/Polmans on track for victory

Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans are in control of their men’s doubles match with James McCabe and Li Tu.

They have broken McCabe and Tu for 2-1 in the second set, and then had a controversial moment in the following game.

At deuce on Kubler’s serve, everyone heard a let call – except the chair umpire. As Kubler hit a shot into the corner for McCabe to get, Polmans raised his hands in query to the chair umpire about the let.

The chair umpire called a hindrance, and gave the point to McCabe and Tu. That made it break point, but it spurred Kubler and Polmans to hold serve. That made it 3-1.

Tu has held serve under pressure, to make it 3-2. But time is running out and they desperately need a break or this one is over.

24m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:43am

Pegula breaks again!(Getty Images)

The writing is on the wall for the defending champion here.

Pegula gets a double break as Keys falls to another couple of unforced errors.

Pegula hit a couple of really nice winners, manoeuvring Keys around so nicely.

But as we’ve been saying all morning, it’s Keys’s errors that are causing just as many issues.

31m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:36am

Australia Day air displays making some noise(Getty Images)

Of course, you don’t need me to tell you that it’s Australia Day today – and there’s plenty of things going on in Melbourne as a result – including an air show.

Hard to know if the players are being impacted by it at all – but you can certainly hear the sound of the aircraft in the skies above Rod Laver Arena.

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33m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:34am

Keys holds

That is so much better from Keys.

Suddenly she’s stopped looking for a winner every point and has started to play a bit more sensibly.

A lot more comfortable, three aces, no unforced errors and four clean winners.

She still trails 2-1 with Pegula to serve.

37m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:31am

It’s not just about the temperature

Is there a max temp at which players stand down for health reasons?

– How hot is the Court with roof closed?

So, the temperature obviously plays a big role in this, but the determining measurement for when the roof gets closed on the main courts is the heat stress scale.

That heat stress scale is 1-5.

Five is when play is suspended on the outside courts, and when the arena courts have their roofs closed.

Shouldn’t be an issue today, but could be tomorrow when we’re expecting 43 degrees.

38m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:29am

Pegula breaks!(Getty Images)

Oh that’s a disastrous opening game for Keys in this second set – a marathon eight-minute break of her serve when  she had led 40-15 and seemed on track for a comfortable hold.

Everything that was wrong in the first set was in evidence there in that game too.

Eight unforced errors IN THAT GAME!

She hit three winners and an ace, but also served three double faults.

When she got her first serve in (7 of 14) she won 86 per cent of the points – i.e. all but one.

But she didn’t win a single point on her second serve, which was 40km/h slower on average than her first (177km/h).

42m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:25am

Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans take first set in all-Aussie doubles

Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans have taken the opening set in their all-Aussie men’s doubles clash with James McCabe and Li Tu on Margaret Court Arena.

The early exchanges were very tight, but Kubler and Polmans have begun to take control, with the tall Polmans becoming almost unpassable at the net – although he still is having problems on his own serve.

The key game was the seventh, as Li Tu lost his serve to give Kubler and Polmans a 4-3 advantage. They went on to win the first set 6-4 in 37 minutes.

But Li Tu has a wicked forehand – he’s missed a few chances on service return, but if he finds his range, this one isn’t over.

50m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:17am

Pegula wins the opening set

Lovely stuff from Jess Pegula – it only took her 31 minutes to win that first set.

Nothing complicated, just clean hitting and percentage plays from the 6th seed.

She hit just 5 winners to Keys’s 11, not a single return winner to Keys’s 4.

But she only made 4 unforced errors, a third of the number that Keys made.

Keys has been impatient. Pegula has made her pay.

51m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:16am

Pegula breaks straight back!

Well, well.

New balls were deployed and Keys just couldn’t control them enough.

Pegula recovered from the disappointment of dropping her serve to power back into an advantageous position.

Pegula’s ability to break back immediately was actually mentioned in the AO preview as one of her great strengths – and it’s proven to be the case at the very first sign of adversity.

Keys is making too many unforced errors, looking for the lines too much.

Yes, it’s giving her plenty of winners: 11 to Pegula’s 5.

But the unforced errors are up at 12 to just 4.

57m agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:10am

Keys finding her range and breaks back(Getty Images)

It’s starting to come back a bit now for Madison Keys.

The clean hitting, the power shots on the run, Keys is starting to find her range a bit.

It’s coming off the back of Keys starting to see Pegula’s serve .

The Keys box did have a little word of encouragement about attacking Pegula’s 140km/h serves a bit more and it appears she has taken that on board.

It took her three attempts but she finally gets the break after the longest game of the match so far at almost five minutes – a much better performance.

It was the backhand from Keys, really powering down the line with some serious shots.

Pressure back on the number six seed.

1h agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:05am

Solid start for Kubler/Polmans vs McCabe/Tu

It’s been an entertaining opening to the doubles encounter on Margaret Court Arena with Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans taking on James McCabe and Li Tu.

This match is the kind of one where there could be a heap of breaks, or absolutely none.

So far Kubler has had the easiest hold, but his partner Polmans was under real pressure, going 0-30 down in the fourth game before fighting back to hold for 2-2. He might need to raise his first serve level.

Right now, games are still on serve at 3-2 to McCabe/Tu.

1h agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 12:58am

Keys is just not dialled in(Getty Images)

Right now, it’s just not happening for Keys.

She’s not serving well, her new action breaking down slightly in terms of timing.

A double fault put her under pressure there.

But then, magical Madison returns.

A brilliant stretching winner wrong-footed Pegula.

And then, finally, a good serve out wide allowed the number 9 seed and defending champion the one-two punch she needed to get onto the board.

Will that settle her slightly?

1h agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 12:53am

Pegula with a perfect start

It’s often said that you need something to go in off your backside if you are a struggling striker.

Essentially, you need a bit of luck to get yourself into the game.

For Madison Keys, that’s the only way she’s getting anything from the game so far.

A double fault from Pegula and then an unforced error into the net from the sixth seed gives Keys a 0-30 start.

But even that didn’t help her find her spark as Pegula reeled off four-straight points to leap into a 3-0 lead.

1h agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 12:50am

Pegula breaks immediately

This really is a great start for Jess Pegula.

Madison Keys looks tight out there, her only point so far has come off a net cord.

Pegula just looking so controlled and hitting through the ball really well early doors.

1h agoMon 26 Jan 2026 at 12:47am

Love-ly start for Pegula(Getty Images)

A service hold to love to kick things off for the number six seed.

Errors from Keys off the back of Pegula’s serve – only one rally to speak of in the game off the fourth point of it – which Pegula dictated throughout.

Lovely start for Pegula.