Top 5 Surprise Results at the 2026 Australian Open

The first Grand Slam of the year began with a lot of excitement and fanfare in the second week of January. As expected, the Slam down-under hasn’t disappointed the huge legion of tennis fans with some incredible contests already being witnessed at Melbourne Park this year. 

Though some of the usual suspects progressed to the second week in both the Men’s and Women’s categories, a few top seeds were knocked out in the earlier rounds as well. 

For any upcoming professional tennis player, the grand slams are the biggest stage to announce your presence and a few young guns have achieved that at this year’s Australian Open. Alternatively, its also a stage for the experienced, old warhorses to deliver a knockout punch. 

Here we take a look at the five most surprising results from the 2026 Australian Open – 

5. Joao Fonseca vs Eliot Spizzirri (First Round)

This was a shocking upset that no one saw coming in the first round of the Australian Open. Brazilian prodigy Joao Fonseca was touted as one of the players to watch out this year due to his heroics the last time around where he routed a top 10 ranked Andrey Rublev in straight sets in the first round. Having had a fairly successful 2025, Fonseca who is now ranked in the Top 30 had entered the main draw at the Australian Open this year and was expected to go further than the last time. However, he came up against an in-form young American in Eliot Spizzirri who got the better of him in four sets, winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. 

This was a fabulous win for the American as he had never defeated a much higher ranked player before and had only won his first Grand Slam match at the 2025 US Open while Fonseca had already won several Grand Slam matches and hadn’t been knocked out in the first round at any of the Slams last year.

Though it was a great performance from Spizzirri no doubt, it was also an underwhelming and disappointing one from Fonseca who is being seen as the future of Men’s tennis, one of the few upcoming talents who possess the quality and the overall game to challenge the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. So far, Fonseca hasn’t lived up to the billing and it feels like a step too far at the moment for the young Brazilian.  

His opponent Spizzirri continued his great run at the Australian Open and played superbly against the defending champion Jannik Sinner in the third round.  Spizzirri took the opening set off the World No. 2 and put him in a spot of bother before losing in four sets. 

4. Francisco Cerundolo vs Andrey Rublev (Third Round)

Argentine tennis player Francisco Cerundolo also produced a surprise result in the Men’s Single third round match against Andrey Rublev. 

Rublev is a highly experienced campaigner when it comes to the Slams, having reached the quarter-finals of all Majors previously. He has made it to the Australian Open quarter-finals thrice as well while Cerundolo has only gotten past the third-round twice, that too at the French Open in 2023 and 2024. 

Though the South-American has risen through the ranks in recent years with consistent performances on the ATP Tour, Rublev was expected to get through as the more experienced and higher ranked player in this match-up. However, sports don’t always work as per expectations and the one who performs the best on a given day, will prevail. Cerundolo ended up defeating Rublev 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 in straight sets. It was a resounding win by the Argentine against a seasoned campaigner, one that could act as a stepping stone for more such performances in the coming years. 

The Happy Slam has produced many surprises over the years and this Cerundolo win just graced that amazing list. 

3. Jasmine Paolini vs Iva Jovi? (Third Round)

The current World No.8, Jasmine Paolini was taken out by American youngster Iva Jovi? in straight sets in the third round of the Australian Open this year. This was probably the biggest upset on the Women’s side early on in the tournament. Paolini had risen to fame, reaching back-to-back finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and also reached a best ranking of World No. 5. Being a current top 10 player, Paolini was the overwhelming favourite going into the third round. 

Iva Jovi? on the other hand has just started her journey in professional tennis and had nothing to lose playing against a top 10 player. She ended up defeating Paolini 6-2, 7-6 in straight sets to move into the fourth round. The American teenager progressed to her first Grand Slam quarter-finals at the Australian Open, becoming the youngest player to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals since Venus Williams in 1998. Though she ended up being outplayed by the World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, this was a series of impressive performances from the young American who looked like quite a well-rounded player for someone new to the WTA Tour. 

This incredible upset by Jovi? against a top 10 player was certainly one of the surprise results of the Happy Slam and we hope to see more of her in the upcoming tournaments as she looks like a highly promising talent. 

2. Daniil Medvedev vs Lerner Tien (Fourth Round)

This was a similar result to last year’s second round meeting where Daniil Medvedev perished to newcomer Lerner Tien in five gruelling sets. However, the difference this year was that Medvedev was in-form and looking to progress further as opposed to being horribly out of form last year. 

What happened on the court was another huge surprise with the American youngster completely dominating proceedings and winning the match in straight sets while Medvedev was left clueless. A former grand slam champion and three-time finalist here was outplayed, outsmarted and blown away by a fairly inexperienced Tien. Tien went on to win the match 6-4, 6-0, 6-3. 

This was a top performance from Tien who looks like a much-improved player from last year and he dismissed Medvedev with brilliant all-round play. 

The young American has done some superb work in the off-season with his current coach Michael Chang and the improvements are showing on the court. Tien reached his first grand slam quarter-finals, making a superb start to the 2026 season and also bringing one of the most exciting change-ups in the Men’s side of the draw at the Australian Open. 

1. Elina Svitolina vs Coco Gauff (Quarter-finals)

This was probably the biggest upset of the tournament courtesy of Elina Svitolina. The Ukrainian defeated multiple grand slam champion Coco Gauff in the Women’s Singles quarter-finals at the 2026 Australian Open. Svitolina had already defeated a top 10 player in Mirra Andreeva in the previous round but getting the better of the current World No. 3.  6-1, 6-2 in straight sets was absolutely phenomenal. Such was her dominance in the match that she made Gauff look ordinary. 

Gauff was one of the favourites to win the Australian Open this year as she has also made it to the semi-finals here in 2024. However, she had a rude awakening against an inspired Svitolina. To add further context to this result, Svitolina returned to tennis in 2024 after giving birth and has now made her first ever Australian Open semi-finals and at 31-years old, Svitolina was up against a 21-year-old who was more agile, has won two slams and has been in good form lately. 

For all of the above reasons, this quarter-final performance from the experienced Svitolina over a far younger and higher-ranked opponent was the best in this tournament considering the level of difficulty for her and that’s why it’s our pick for the top surprise of the tournament.