{"id":381559,"date":"2026-01-21T04:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T04:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/381559\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T04:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T04:07:09","slug":"kasatkina-frustrated-after-defeat-on-day-of-mixed-fortunes-for-australian-players-australian-open-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/381559\/","title":{"rendered":"Kasatkina frustrated after defeat on day of mixed fortunes for Australian players | Australian Open 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne is known for its unpredictable wind and it blew both ways for Australian tennis fans on Tuesday. Torturous late-night losses suffered by Daria Kasatkina and Kimberly Birrell came about 12 hours after Maya Joint\u2019s straight-sets defeat, ending the Australian Open<\/a> ambitions of the three highest-ranked local female players.<\/p>\n

As the sun comes up on Wednesday morning, however, the country will have six women in the second round, the most at a grand slam since eight progressed at Melbourne Park in 1992. The last to secure their berth was the qualifier Maddison Inglis, who defeated Birrell 7-6 (6), 6-7 (9), 6-4 in an all-Australian clash that lasted three hours and finished after midnight.<\/p>\n

Inglis broke down at the match\u2019s conclusion, overcome with emotion after beating her close friend. \u201cThe last few days have been a bit stressful,\u201d she said. \u201cI absolutely adore her so it was really hard to see her on the other side, but I\u2019m stoked I could play through those feelings and be in the second round. It means the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kasatkina knew she should have been there too, after she failed to convert two set points in the first, and then let the qualifier Nikola Bartunkova off the hook early in the decider. The world No 126 from the Czech Republic secured the victory 7-6 (7), 0-6, 6-3 in a topsy-turvy contest.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old former Russian \u2013 who passed her Australian citizenship test last week \u2013 was left furious with herself, at one point smashing her racket into the Kia Arena surface as the match slipped away. \u201cIt\u2019s the small details which I\u2019m missing, just the things which you\u2019re getting playing a lot of matches,\u201d Kasatkina said.<\/p>\n

Maddison Inglis stretches to make return against compatriot Kimberly Birrell on her way to a 7-6 (6), 6-7 (9), 6-4 win against her fellow Australian. Photograph: David Gray\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Having contested only four tour matches since October after a break, she said she took fluids to address cramp late in the match. \u201cIt\u2019s stress plus waiting around for about 12 hours,\u201d she said. \u201cYou are in this state of mind which consumes a lot of energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier, Dane Sweeny and James Duckworth increased the count of Australian men in the second round to five. Duckworth outlasted the Croatian lucky loser Dino Prizmic in five sets by winning the last two. Sweeny, 24, shared a compelling meeting of opposites which also marked the final appearance at Melbourne Park for the French veteran Ga\u00ebl Monfils.<\/p>\n

The Australian dropped to the ground in elation after defeating the 39-year-old from France 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-4, 7-5, lifting himself up to meet an embrace from his taller opponent.<\/p>\n

Monfils has announced 2026 will be his final year on tour and he spent the latter stages of the near four-hour contest bent double between points. It was a stark contrast to the effervescent Australian, who has been likened to Lleyton Hewitt but has struggled to carve out a place on the tour.<\/p>\n

Dane Sweeny (right) and Ga\u00ebl Monfils lock hands after the 24-year-old Australian won 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-5. Photograph: James Ross\/EPA<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been my whole life since I can remember,\u201d Sweeny said of the efforts to persevere in the sport. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m watching a show, it feels pretty unbelievable to be in this position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monfils was presented with a gift from the tournament director, Craig Tiley, to celebrate a 20th appearance at the Australian Open. Addressing the crowd after a standing ovation, the winner of 13 tour titles acknowledged his connection to Melbourne Park, where he has made the quarter-finals twice.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, my journey starts in 2003 with you guys. I came here for the first time, now we are 2026 and somehow this is the finish line,\u201d he said, before offering his best to the man who ended it. \u201cThis kid\u2019s got heart, so I really wish you good luck for the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before leaving the court, Sweeny wrote on the lens of the camera: \u201cThis too shall pass.\u201d Explaining afterwards, he said: \u201cThe only constant in life is change really, and this is a big moment, it\u2019s exciting, but it will come back down.\u201d He meets the eighth seed, Ben Shelton, in the second round.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbourne is known for its unpredictable wind and it blew both ways for Australian tennis fans on Tuesday.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-381559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}