The Philippines’ Alexandra Eala enjoyed vociferous support from her fans on Monday at AO 2026 and it was Brazilian supporters, as ever, backing prodigy Joao Fonseca on Tuesday.
MORE: All the scores from AO 2026
They must have known, though, that the No.28 seed lacked matches heading into the year’s opening Grand Slam.
That, coupled with a feisty, fast-rising American in Eliot Spizzirri across the net, likely led to the eventual outcome.
Spizzirri - a former stalwart on the US college circuit, ranked No.85 - beat the 19-year-old 6-4 2-6 6-1 6-2 at 1573 Arena for the perfect start to his Australian Open career.
And so, like Eala the previous day, Fonseca departed.
The Brazilian had pulled out of Brisbane and Adelaide this month with a lingering lower back injury, and while he said his back was now at 100 per cent, he felt just wasn’t prepared enough.
“I got slowly back on court here in Melbourne, so I felt I needed more rhythm,” Fonseca said. “I needed more time to prepare [my] physique.
“I tried my best today. I think [it was] bad that I wasn't 100 per cent playing, but at the same time, it gives me maturity to keep going, to understand my body, to understand my limits. I'm still young and I'm still getting experience from that.”
The aggressive shotmaker spent much more time than usual pinned behind the baseline and made 38 unforced errors.
Fonseca now turns his attention to playing on clay in South America next month after his truncated hard-court stint.
“I worked a lot to play minimum three weeks,” he said. “Hopefully four or five. But unfortunately I only played one match.
“That's tennis life.”
Musetti outlasts Collignon
Lorenzo Musetti entered AO 2026 on a high - a ranking high - coming in at No.5 after starting his season with an appearance in the final in Hong Kong.
Even so, the Italian with the stylish one-handed backhand knew he faced a significant test in the first round in Raphael Collignon, and so it proved.
Musetti, though, progressed when the Belgian retired in the fourth set.
Collignon had overcome cramps to beat Alex de Minaur in Sydney in the Davis Cup in September but couldn’t continue on Tuesday.
Musetti had trailed by a set and break before advancing, officially, 4-6 7-6(3) 7-5 3-2 ret in more than three hours at Margaret Court Arena.
“It was not an easy match, but I knew it before starting that Raphael was a really good player,” Musetti said. “Especially he's been doing really, really good in the past month, in the end of the year.”
As Collignon - ranked at a career best No.72 after topping the likes of De Minaur, Casper Ruud, Stan Wawrinka and Grigor Dimitrov in the last six months - wilted, Musetti felt he began to dictate more with his serve and forehand.
He next encounters compatriot and friend Lorenzo Sonego, with whom he won the Hong Kong doubles title.
Khachanov gets revenge
Karen Khachanov has experienced his share of tough losses at the majors.
The No.15 seed let slip five match points at the US Open against Kamil Majchrzak last August, one year after relinquishing a 4-0 lead in the fifth set in New York against Dan Evans in what turned out to be the longest singles match in tournament history (five hours, 35 minutes).
The Olympic silver medallist also fell to Nick Kyrgios at Melbourne Park in a fifth set tiebreak in 2020.
He might have flashed back to some of those painful outings on Tuesday as match points came and went against Alex Michelsen in the fifth set.
But Khachanov finally capitalised on his seventh match point to get the better of one of the highest ranked unseeded players (No.38).
Khachanov’s 4-6 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-3 battle at John Cain Arena lasted four hours.
A year ago, the Californian downed Khachanov in the third round.
The 2023 semifinalist suspected Michelsen was cramping near the end - which didn’t make things easier.
“This is the toughest part, when the guy is going for all the shots and he starts to make all of them,” said Khachanov, who ripped 24 aces.
“I was thinking I have to put the ball inside the court but then the guy will attack me so it’s extremely tough to play in these kinds of circumstances. I’m really pleased that I was able to close it out.”
Khachanov meets Michelsen’s friend and fellow Californian, the Next Gen Nishesh Basavareddy, in the second round.
Redemption for Mensik
Jakub Mensik reversed his fortunes on Court 6 in another five-set encounter.
A talent with one of the heftiest serves around - finishing fourth in aces in 2025 - the No.16 seed has so far been unable to convert his ATP success to the Slams.
Last year’s Masters 1000 champion in Miami, however, is only 20 and maybe AO 2026 is where the Czech breaks new ground and reaches the second week.
Having lost all but one of his Grand Slam matches since the start of 2024 from either 2-0 or 2-1 up in sets, the recent Auckland winner rallied to beat No.94 Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5 4-6 2-6 7-6(1) 6-3.
There were 27 aces but also 19 double faults.
Carreno Busta - a former member of the top 10 and a Slam semifinalist - will regret not finishing the match in four sets after he led with a break at 3-2.
Tsitsipas bests former junior No.1
Seeded No.31 after being at No.11 last season, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas is seeking an upturn in fortunes.
Backed by what he called his most “favourite fans in the world” – Melbourne boasts a large Greek population that habitually supports Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari – he ousted former junior No.1 Shintaro Mochizuki 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 to cap Tuesday’s proceedings at Margaret Court Arena.
Tsitsipas hit 16 aces and created a sizable 20 break points, but there was a moment of worry for the AO 2023 finalist.
The trainer visited Tsitsipas for an apparent foot issue – at the same time that Japan’s Mochizuki had the trainer out for a foot complaint.
Tsitsipas’s next opponent, Tomas Machac, has a higher ranking. He moved up from No.35 to No.24 after winning the Adelaide title last weekend.