Australian Open 2026 Results, Winners, Losers and Highlights from Tuesday's Bracket

Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz and Madison Keys all kicked off their 2026 Australian Open runs with victories on Tuesday.

Shelton and Fritz, the two highest-seeded American men, were both victorious on the bottom half of the men's singles bracket, which also features Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner.

The path to the final in Melbourne is difficult for Shelton and Fritz, but both players are strong on hard courts.

Keys began her title defense in Melbourne with a straight-set victory.

Keys is one of four American women seeded inside the top 10. All four of those players won their first-round matches in straight sets.

The focus now shifts to the second round that will take place over Wednesday and Thursday.

Men's Singles

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No. 2 Jannik Sinner def. Hugo Gaston, 6-2, 6-1 (retired)

No. 5 Lorenzo Musetti def. Raphael Collignon, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 3-2 (retired)

No. 8 Ben Shelton def. Ugo Humbert, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5)

No. 9 Taylor Fritz def. Valentin Royer, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3

No. 15 Karen Khachanov def. Alex Michelsen, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3

No. 16 Jakub Mensik def. Pablo Carreno Busta, 7-5, 4-6, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3

No. 22 Luciano Darderi def. Cristian Garin, 7-6, (5), 7-5, 7-6 (3)

Ethan Quinn def. No. 23 Tallon Griekspoor, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2

Eliot Spizzirri def. No. 28 Joao Fonseca, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2

Ben Shelton had the easier day on court compared to Taylor Fritz.

The eighth-seeded American defeated Ugo Humbert in three sets. He did need to win two sets by tiebreakers, but he got the job done in straight sets.

Fritz split the first two sets with Valentin Royer before he found another gear in the final two sets. The No. 9 seed lost just four games in the third and fourth sets to move on to the second round.

Reigning champion Jannik Sinner won the first two sets before his opponent retired in the third set. Sinner is the favorite to advance to the final from the bottom half of the draw.

Shelton and Fritz, both strong hard-court players, might have to beat Sinner and Novak Djokovic just to reach the final in Melbourne.

Two unseeded Americans made noise on Tuesday as well.

Ethan Quinn knocked out No. 23 seed Tallon Griekspoor in straight sets. Eliot Spizzirri defeated No. 28 seed Joao Fonseca in four sets.

Women's Singles

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No. 5 Elena Rybakina def. Kaja Juvan, 6-4, 6-3

No. 9 Madison Keys def. Oleksandra Oliynykova, 7-6 (6), 6-1

No. 10 Belinda Bencic def. Katie Boulter, 6-0, 7-5

No. 16 Naomi Osaka def. Antonia Ruzic, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4

Laura Siegemund def. No. 18 Liudmila Samsonova, 0-6, 7-5, 6-4

Janice Tjen def. No. 22 Leylah Fernandez, 6-2, 7-6 (1)

No. 24 Jelena Ostapenko def. Rebecca Sramkova, 6-4, 6-4

Tereza Valentova def. No. 30 Maya Joint, 6-4, 6-4

No. 31 Anna Kalinskaya def. Sonay Kartal, 7-6 (3), 6-1

Madison Keys' title defense began with a straight-set win.

Keys faced a battle in the first set, but she won the opening set in a tiebreak. She then cruised to a 6-1 second-set win to close out the victory.

Keys became the fourth American top-10 seed to win in straight sets with her Tuesday triumph.

Keys and Jessica Pegula could face each other in the fourth round in the first of a few potential all-American battles that might happen in the second week in Australia. Amanda Anisimova would face the Pegula-Keys winner in the quarterfinals if chalk holds in the bracket.

Elena Rybakina, Belinda Bencic and Naomi Osaka all picked up wins to finish up the first-round slate on Tuesday.

There were some upsets, though, as three seeded women were knocked out. Eight seeded players fell in the opening round on the women's side. That should open up some possibilities for unseeded players to make deeper than expected runs in Melbourne.