Casper Ruud: “I’m gonna be here for as long as Maria [pregnant wife] lets me.” Ruud asserts he will leave the tournament and go back to Norway if his wife goes into labor for the couple’s first baby.
Qualifier Arthur Gea of France upset 17 seed Jiri Lehecka 75 76 75. Less than two years ago I saw him lose first round of Sarasota Open Challenger qualies to Stefan Kozlov. Gea vs Wawrinka in 2R
99% of the crowd was cheering and even at times singing for Filipina Alexandra Eala to the point where Alycia Parks was so affected that she could not barely even play. But the American stunner turned the tables and won in three 06 63 62.
Rublev on what co-coach Marat Safin brings to his team: “I don’t know to be honest, just chill.”
Craig Tiley: We are riding the high of a brilliant Opening Week. Across six days, cumulative attendance hit 217,999, nearly doubling the previous record of 116,528 set in 2025.
Despicable comment about Djokovic from the Australian Open commentary box during this three set win vs Pedro Martinez: “I think that’s Pedro’s biggest chance if Novak just tears an aductor on one of those slides. It might be just what he needs.”
Zakharova plays with a Prince racquet. Might be the only Prince racquet in the whole tournament.
Djokovic has tied Federer and Feliciano Lopez with the most Grand Slam appearances in history – 81. The win vs Martinez was his 100th victory at AO, which matches his achievement at Wimbledon (102) and RG (101).
Peyton Stearns eliminated former champion Sofia Kenin 62 63. Stearns said after that the fan who barked at her will do the same at her next round match.
AO has not been kind to Brandon Nakashima… he has been unable to win a match at AO so far… 2021 – QR1 loss to Karatsev – Aslan SFist 2022 – R1 loss to Berrettini – Matteo SFist 2023 – R1 Loss to McDonald who beat Rafa R2 2024 – QR1 loss to Mensik 2025 – R1 Loss to Shelton – Ben SFist 2026 – R1 Loss to Botic.
Djokovic on how he feels and Carlos Alcaraz copying his serve: “As soon as I saw Carlos’ serve I sent him a message. Every ace he hits, I expect a tribute to me. Let’s see if he’s going to stick to the agreement.”
Reilly Opelka has switched from Fila to a luxury new clothing company called Sease, which sells shirts and shirts for around $800 each.
Alycia Parks · AO · Marat Safin · Novak Djokovic
