Australian Open 2026 Day 2 Summary

Day two of the 2026 Australian Open saw Novak Djokovic begin his quest for a record 25th major with a near-flawless performance on the night, while Alex de Minaur gave the home crowd exactly what they wanted at Rod Laver Arena.

Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev all progressed without trouble, but the headline of the day belonged to 21-year-old French qualifier Arthur Gea, who beat 17th seed Jiří Lehečka in straight sets for his first Grand Slam win in the main draw.

Veteran champions also rolled back the years, with Marin Čilić and Stan Wawrinka both advancing in emphatic fashion.

Here’s a full breakdown of the Day 2 results, standout matches and highlights.

Day Two 2026 Australian Open Round of 128 Results

Key matches

Arthur Gea def. Jiri Lehecka (17) 7-5, 7-6(1), 7-5

The biggest story of the day and one of the standout upsets in the early rounds was 21-year-old French qualifier Arthur Gea (world no. 198) who stunned 17th seed Jiri Lehecka in straight sets for his first ever Grand Slam main-draw win (and first top-100/top-20 win).

The French have a production line of players, and Gea has started the season with a Challenger title in New Caledonia and a flawless run from the qualifiers (no sets dropped). He now faces Stan Wawrinka in R2. Big buzz for the young Frenchman.

Lehecka is still very unpredictable, as he can challenge the best on his day but doesn’t have the results to back it up. He served for the second set, but his trip down under is already over, so it’s back to the indoor courts in Prague for him.

Alex de Minaur (6) def. Mackenzie McDonald 6-2, 6-2, 6-3

Home favorite and No. 6 seed Alex de Minaur cruised past American Mackenzie McDonald in a clinical straight sets victory at Rod Laver Arena. I thought McDonald could provide some resistance, but De Minaur’s aggressive baseline play and crowd energy allowed him to dominate in one of the easiest wins of the day.

Stan Wawrinka def. Laslo Djere 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4)

Veteran Stan Wawrinka (at 40) kicked off his final Australian Open with a ferocious four-set comeback over Laslo Djere, dropping first but fighting back with clutch tennis (including a tight tiebreak win after recovering from a break). Stan still hits a mean ball, as he showed in the United Cup, and that backhand remains one of the cleanest shots on tour.

Nuno Borges def. Felix Auger-Aliassime (7) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4

A shocking early exit for the no. 7 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, knocked out in the first round by Portugal’s Nuno Borges after dropping the opener but rallied before FAA withdrew due to cramps.

Borges showed more than one match for the Canadian before that, and cramp after 3 sets, so retiring is not so good. I just can’t imagine Novak, Fed or Rafa throwing in the towel on that.

Novak Djokovic (4) def. Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

The night session at Rod Laver Arena belonged to Novak Djokovic, who began his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title (and 11th AO crown) with a clinical straight sets win over Spain’s Pedro Martinez.

Novak dropped just five points on serve the entire match, hitting 49 winners to Martinez’s 14 and showing elite movement/slides of 38.

Casper Ruud (12) def. Mattia Bellucci 6-1, 6-2, 6-4

No. 12 seed Casper Ruud made short work of Italy’s Mattia Bellucci on Margaret Court Arena, finishing in just 1 hour and 41 minutes with a dominant straight sets win (and his 50th major win overall).

Ruud lost his practice set tie-break against Federer last week, but he upped his game here and enjoyed a perfect serve day (77% first-serve points won with no breaks).

Other notable mentions include Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, who both cruised through in straight sets (Medvedev 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(2) over Jesper de Jong; Rublev 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 over Matteo Arnaldi). Marin Cilic dominates 6-0, 6-0, 7-6(3); Learner Tien’s five set grind comeback (with coach Michael Chang’s encouragement); and Reilly Opelka advances smoothly.

Australian Open 2026 Day 3 Round of 128 matches