The First Round is concluded at the Australian Open on Tuesday as Day 3 of the tournament gets underway.
In the main, the top names have managed to get through the opening Round and there will be plenty of tougher obstacles to overcome if they are going to move on and win the Australian Open. Some of the other contenders are going to want to follow suit on Day 3, although it looks another day to pick off some selections.
Monday produced a 1-1 return for the selections made, but that continues a solid start to the opening Grand Slam of the 2026 season.
Three Picks have been made for Day 3 and those can be read below.
Stefanos Tsitsipas - 6.5 games v Shintaro Mochizuki: He is barely holding onto a Seeding at the 2026 Australian Open, but Stefanos Tsitsipas may feel comfortable in the Melbourne surroundings.
He has dropped down to World Number 33, but a couple of withdrawals means he is the Number 31 Seed in the tournament.
However, Stefanos Tsitsipas has reached the Semi Final three times at the Australian Open and has also added an appearance in the Final in another tournament Down Under. This can only give him confidence as he looks to at least surpass the First Round and avoid opening exits in this event for the second season in a row, which would be a big disappointment to the huge amount of fans that come to support Tsitsipas.
Throughout his career, Stefanos Tsitsipas has tended to play his best tennis in the first half of the season and he is hoping that things have settled off the court, which will allow him to play his best on the court. A disappointing loss early in Adelaide will not have overshadowed what has been a solid opening to the month for the former World Number 3 and he is a favourite against this younger opponent.
Shintaro Mochizuki is still outside of the top 100 in the World Rankings and he has struggled for the consistency that will be needed if he is going to surpass his career best mark of World Number 92.
Eight losses in his last nine hard court matches will not have given Mochizuki much confidence and he was beaten in both matches at the United Cup and in Qualifying in Auckland in preparation for this opening Grand Slam.
Over the last twelve months, Shintaro Mochizuki is 1-4 on the hard courts when facing a top 50 Ranked opponent on the hard courts and he has struggled to be competitive in those matches.
One of the defeats was to Stefanos Tsitsipas at the United Cup and that match will just settle any nerves that the Greek player may have otherwise have felt prior to the Australian Open getting underway.
The contest was competitive, but Stefanos Tsitsipas created a lot more Break Points than his opponent and the numbers produced by Shintaro Mochizuki were similar to those he has put together against the better players on the Tour. Those have left the World Number 112 short of the top opponents faced and Stefanos Tsitsipas should earn the breaks he needs to cover a slightly awkward line.
In reality that is largely down to the inconsistency that Tsitsipas has produced as a return player, but he should be confident enough in this match up to earn the four or five breaks that may be needed to cover this mark.
Naomi Osaka - 4.5 games v Antonia Ruzic: The return to the Tour has been pretty challenging for Naomi Osaka, even if the former World Number 1 has shown signs of getting closer to her best tennis.
The run to the US Open Semi Final back in September will have given Naomi Osaka a huge boost- this is her best Grand Slam run since winning the Australian Open in 2021. Prior to becoming a mother for the first time, Naomi Osaka had been the dominant hard court player on the WTA Tour and it is impossible to ignore the fact that she won four Grand Slam titles on the surface.
Two of those were right here in Melbourne, although Naomi Osaka has been beaten in the First Round and Third Round in her last two appearances here.
However, the improvement in the second half of the 2025 season means Naomi Osaka has moved back inside the top 20 of the World Rankings. This is important for Osaka in terms of being able to avoid the top names on the Tour until the Third Round at least and this gives the former World Number 1 an opportunity to build some momentum into the biggest events of the 2026 year over the next eleven months.
For all of the improvement, there is scope for more with Naomi Osaka looking to show a bit more on the return of serve, while she is 1-1 on the hard courts in preparation for this event.
First up for Naomi Osaka is a match up against Antonio Ruzic who is the World Number 71 and who has lost her sole match in the build up to the Australian Open.
The 22 year old has steady numbers when facing players Ranked inside the top 50 over the last twelve months on the hard courts, but she is 0-3 when facing top 20 Ranked opponents. That is the challenge for the younger player and she has not really been able to get into the return games in those matches against the best players on the Tour.
Antonio Ruzic is going to have to serve well to try and build some pressure on Naomi Osaka, but the latter has gotten to grips with facing those she should be beating. Over the last twelve months, Osaka is 8-4 when facing those outside of the top 50 and a couple of those defeats could easily have gone in her way with a bit more fortune at the biggest moments.
Only one of the last seven Grand Slam tournaments have ended in a First Round defeat for Naomi Osaka and she may have just enough in hand to cover this awkward line set for this match.
Sloane Stephens - 3.5 games v Karolina Pliskova: Two former Grand Slam Finalists meet in the First Round at the Australian Open in 2026 and Sloane Stephens and Karolina Pliskova are both Ranked outside of the top 1000.
That is less to do with their talent, but more to do with injuries meaning limited time spent on the court over the last twelve months and so every win in Melbourne will provide a significant boost.
With both turning 33 and 34 respectively in March, you do have to accept that Stephens and Pliskova are in the final stages of what have been strong careers. Sloane Stephens won a Grand Slam title at the US Open, while losing another at the French Open, while Karolina Pliskova reached two Grand Slam Finals without winning a Major.
Of course it is the Czech player who earned the World Number 1 position, while Sloane Stephens is a former World Number 3, and both players are very familiar with one another.
Since returning from a year long lay off, Karolina Pliskova has lost all three matches played on the Tour and is making her debut in 2026. This has to be a potential factor in the match and it is the main reason that Pliskova has been set as the underdog in this contest.
Sloane Stephens also returned in 2025 and failed to win a match before losing early in Auckland, but the American decided to take part in the Qualifiers for the Australian Open rather than looking for a Wild Card. She is a former Semi Finalist at this Grand Slam, but six of the last eight appearances at the Australian Open have ended in a First Round defeat.
Three Qualifying wins will have given Sloane Stephens a real boost and the performances in those matches will also be a real shot of confidence.
It also will help the American that she has won six of the seven matches against Karolina Pliskova on the main Tour and that includes both previous hard court contests.
Neither player is at the level they once were, but Sloane Stephens should be all the better for the tennis that she has gotten under her belt this past week.
Her tennis matches up pretty well with Karolina Pliskova and that may show up on the final scoreboard in this clash of two veterans that once pushed for Grand Slam titles, but are just trying to remain in position to compete on the Tour these days.
MY PICKS: Stefanos Tsitsipas - 6.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Naomi Osaka - 4.5 Games @ 1.70 William Hill (1 Unit)
Sloane Stephens - 3.5 Games @ 1.85 William Hill (1 Unit)
Australian Open Update: 6-2, + 6.20 Units (16 Units Staked, + 38.75% Yield)
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