Australian Open LIVE 2026: De Minaur begins Open quest against American Mackenzie McDonald; Gauff, Swiatek, Djokovic in action

Well, after a slow start to the opening set where she was down 0-3 in 11 minutes, Australian Storm Hunter has completely turned this match around.

Hunter has just taken the first set 6-4 against Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in 41 minutes. A very impressive and gutsy performance from Hunter so far.

Her opponent is a powerful ball-striker, and there was a moment where I thought Hunter was going to be hit off the court, but she’s found her momentum and dug into this match to now take a one set lead.

The winner of this match will take on Hailey Baptiste in the second round.

Elsewhere, American Peyton Stearns has taken the first set 6-3 against her fellow countrywoman and former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, World No.3 Coco Gauff is up 2-0 in her round one match against Kamilla Rakhimova and American Emma Navarro has won the first set 6-3 against Poland’s Magda Linette.

It’s easy to forget about the Birrarung Marr entrance to the Australian Open. It’s about a five-minute walk from Rod Laver Arena, and feels pretty removed from the main part of the precinct.

But everything appears to be smooth sailing down here for now. Punters are walking in an organised procession straight from Flinders Street Station, with minimal queuing time.

By all accounts, the lines here on Sunday were much better as well.

A Tennis Australia spokesperson told us yesterday the queue issues were concentrated at the eastern side of the precinct — which is where the other two gates are.

Our reporter Gemma Grant is at the Garden Square entrance of Melbourne Park and confirmed the lines are still pretty long, but seemed to be flowing more smoothly than yesterday.

Both tennis figures are Asian-American, both call California home and both have made big inroads in tennis at a young age.

Rising star Learner Tien, who shocked Daniil Medvedev last year at the Australian Open on the way to the fourth round, joined forces with Michael Chang midway through 2025, signing the American great as his new coach.

Tien, 20, had another breakout season last year, improving his ranking to as high as world No.26, winning his first ATP title and ruling the roost at the Next Generation ATP Finals, which showcases the game’s young stars.

The left-hander is happy with his progression, delivering on a goal to win his first title before his 20th birthday, and agrees that last year’s second-round win over Medvedev – a near five-hour match that finished in the early hours – was a significant moment.

“That match actually got me into the Top 100. I started to feel more and more like I belonged,” said Learner, who has Vietnamese heritage, ahead of his Australian Open first-round match against countryman Marcos Giron this afternoon.

Chang, a former world No.2 and the youngest man in history to win a singles major – the 1989 French Open title – doesn’t want to put a ceiling on Learner’s potential this year.

“For me personally … if you look at this past year, Learner’s beaten more Top 10 guys than anybody else apart from Carlos [Alcaraz] and Jannik [Sinner],” Chang said.

“When you’ve beaten Top 10 guys … that should give you some confidence.

“For me as a coach, for me personally, I have that belief in him as a person [and] in his game – obviously he’s still learning a lot, he’s still growing a lot, he’s still improving.

“But I think it’s been pretty incredible for him to go through a first full season and accomplish what he has accomplished in such a short period of time.”

Learner and Chang’s paths first crossed a little over a year ago in Hong Kong. As they learnt about each other last year, joining forces seemed the right choice.

“Some aspects (of our relationship and similarities) makes it a little bit easier. We can talk about things that are in Orange County. He knows what I’m talking about, and I know what he’s talking about,” Chang said.

“The one thing that actually has been quite nice is that Learner’s very cerebral, so he’s a thinker out there (on the court), which is very similar to how my mind works.

“I’ve always been a little bit before [inclined to] … over-share about different things, whether it was, you know, technically or strategically.

“But Learner doesn’t have an issue with that. He absorbs things very well, he understands things very well. So that’s been refreshing for me as a coach because I don’t have to hold back.”

Tien wasn’t even born when Chang retired in 2003, seven years after he lost the Australian Open final to Boris Becker.

Tien said his agent did most of the “heavy lifting” when he secured Chang. “I think it’s been a great fit so far,” he said.

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