The world's top tennis stars are rolling in Melbourne, as the first round of the 2026 Australian Open wrapped early Tuesday morning with only a few ranked seeds suffering early defeats.
World No. 15 Emma Navarro was the highest-ranked US player to fall in the first round, with the 24-year-old exiting the season's first Grand Slam in a 6-3, 3-6, 3-6 loss to Poland's No. 50 Magda Linette on Sunday.
No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova also stumbled in the first round, with her Melbourne run ending in a three-set loss to Turkey's No. 112 Zeynep Sönmez on Saturday before No. 68 Peyton Stearns ousted fellow US star and 2020 Australian Open champion No. 30 Sofia Kenin in straight sets on Sunday.
Many contenders still remain in the hunt, however, as the entire WTA Top 10 cruised through their opening matchups to advance to the Slam's second round.
That said, fans will miss out on one highly anticipated showdown, as wild card entry Venus Williams's first-round loss ended the 45-year-old tennis icon's path to a second-round clash with US favorite No. 3 Coco Gauff.
How to watch the second round of the 2026 Australian Open
The 2026 Australian Open continues when the Slam's second round kicks off with a Tuesday night slate that features stars like No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 3 Coco Gauff, and No. 7 Jasmine Paolini.
Tuesday's action begins at 7 PM ET, with all Melbourne matches airing live across ESPN platforms.
The first Grand Slam of 2026 has arrived, as the main draw of the Australian Open hits the court on Saturday evening, promising some early-round fireworks.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka enters as the tournament favorite, though the rest of the WTA Top 10 promises to give her a run for her money — as No. 2 Iga Świątek chases the only major tournament title still eluding her.
Meanwhile, No. 9 Madison Keys will attempt to defend her 2025 crown, as fellow US products No. 3 Coco Gauff, No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, and No. 6 Jessica Pegula also locked down top seeds.
Another US superstar will return this weekend, with 45-year-old Venus Williams following up her impressive 2025 performances by accepting a wild-card entry to her first Australian Open in five years.
"Even though I've been on tour for a long time, this is also still my first experience as [reigning champion]," Keys said. "I'm really just trying to soak in all of the really cool fun parts."
How to watch the 2026 Australian Open
The 2026 Australian Open begins at 7 PM ET on Saturday, with Williams as well as top-seed Sabalenka and world No. 7 Jasmine Paolini set to face their first opponents on the first day of the Slam's main draw.
The second day of first-round matches will see the rest of the WTA elite in action, as No. 2 Świątek, No. 3 Gauff, No. 4 Anisimova, No. 6 Pegula, and No. 9 Keys — as well as No. 5 Elena Rybakina, No. 8 Mirra Andreeva, and No. 10 Belinda Bencic — will hit the hardcourt in Melbourne starting at 7 PM ET on Sunday.
All matches in the 2026 Australian Open — from the first round through the women's final on Saturday, January 31st — will air live across ESPN platforms.
World No. 3 Coco Gauff won her 11th career WTA title over the weekend, taking down fellow US star No. 5 Jessica Pegula 6-4, 7-5 to become the 2025 Wuhan Open champion on Sunday.
With the victory, Gauff also is the first US player to lift the Wuhan Open trophy since Venus Williams in 2015.
Gauff now holds a perfect 9-0 record in hardcourt tournament finals, lifting her first WTA 1000 trophy of 2025 and claiming her second title of the year alongside her French Open victory in June — all without needing a single third set throughout her five-match run in Wuhan.
"Winning every match in straight sets, I don't know if I've done that before on a title run," the 21-year-old said afterwards. "I just felt like I was really proud of what I accomplished this week, regardless of the result today."
Despite the Sunday stumble, Pegula also saw significant success at the tournament, handing world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka — who won the last three editions of the competition — her first-ever loss in Wuhan on Saturday.
Even more, Pegula clinched the three-set semifinal by snapping Sabalenka's dominant streak of winning 19 straight tiebreaks.
Overall, the weekend furthered a dominant 2025 WTA campaign for US tennis stars, with a US-based athlete featuring in every Grand Slam final this year.
US women also top the current WTA rankings, with Gauff and Pegula joined by No. 4 Amanda Anisimova and No. 7 Madison Keys in the sport's Top 10.
Additionally, those four contenders have all booked spots in the 2025 WTA Finals, guaranteeing that half of the eight-player field will hail from the States when the tennis season's finale kicks off next month.
The 2025 US Open has officially landed in New York, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka looks to kick off her 2024 title defense when the main draw of the tennis season's final Grand Slam hits courts on Sunday.
The Queens-based tournament marks Sabalenka's last shot at winning a major title this season, with the three-time Slam victor falling in both the 2025 Australian Open and 2025 French Open finals as well as stumbling out of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships in the semifinal round.
With the sport's biggest payday on the line, tennis's top talent are preparing to battle Sabalenka for both hardware and the tournament's record $5 million champion's check.
Joining the 27-year-old on this year's US Open roster are reigning Wimbledon champion No. 2 Iga Świątek, 2025 French Open winner No. 3 Coco Gauff, and home-state hero and 2024 US Open runner-up No. 4 Jessica Pegula.
With five of the WTA's Top-11 players, the US contingent is hoping the reclaim the host nation's Grand Slam trophy this year, as reigning Australian Open champ No. 6 Madison Keys, 2025 Wimbledon runner-up No. 9 Amanda Anisimova, and No. 11 Emma Navarro join Gauff and Pegula as the USA's frontrunners.
Two-time US Open winner and fan favorite No. 25 Naomi Osaka also enters the tournament as a seeded competitor for the first time since 2021, while 45-year-old icon Venus Williams will take the main-draw court for her 25th Queens Slam after headlining this year's wild card list.
How to watch the 2025 US Open
The US Open singles tournament begins on Sunday and runs through the September 6th final.
Live coverage of the New York Grand Slam will air across ESPN platforms.
US tennis icon Venus Williams has turned back the clock, scoring her first singles win in almost two years at the 2025 DC Open hardcourt tournament this week.
With her straight-set Tuesday victory over fellow US pro and world No. 35 Peyton Stearns, the 45-year-old Williams became the oldest player to win a WTA singles match since then-47-year-old Martina Navratilova did so at Wimbledon in 2004.
"I'm here with my friends, family, people I love, and the fans, too, who I love and they love me, so this has been just a beautiful night," the seven-time Grand Slam winner said after the match.
Williams's DC Open run also saw her snag an opening two-set doubles victory alongside fellow US partner Hailey Baptiste on Monday, though the pair fell in a three-set battle to the No. 2-seed duo of US star Taylor Townsend and China's Zhang Shuai on Wednesday.
Next on the tennis legend's DC Open docket is a Round of 16 clash with No. 5 seed and world No. 24 Polish contender Magdalena Fręch, as Williams takes her comeback push one match at a time.
"It doesn't matter how many times you fall down. Doesn't matter how many times you get sick or get hurt or whatever it is," she said. "If you continue to believe and put in the work, there is an opportunity, there is space for you."
How to watch Venus Williams at the 2025 DC Open
Williams will hit the court against Fręch at 7:30 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on the Tennis Channel.
US tennis icon Venus Williams is back in action, returning to the hard court to feature in both the singles and doubles competition at the 2025 DC Open this week.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion will face off against fellow US player and world No. 35 Peyton Stearns in their tournament opener on Tuesday — the unranked 45-year-old's first official competitive match since exiting the 2024 Miami Open in the first round some 16 months ago.
"Why not?" Williams said of her DC Open wild card berth. "I love the game. And the hard courts, it's my favorite surface, what I feel comfortable on."
"My personal goal is to have fun I think right now and enjoy the moment, not put too much pressure on myself," she added.
As one top talent hops back into the spotlight, however, another is stepping out of it, as two-time Wimbledon finalist and current world No. 72 Ons Jabeur announced last Thursday that she's taking an indefinite leave from professional tennis.
"For the past two years, I've been pushing myself so hard, fighting through injuries and facing many other challenges," the former world No. 2 wrote in an Instagram post. "But deep down, I haven't truly felt happy on the court for some time now."
"Tennis is such a beautiful sport," the barrier-breaking 30-year-old Tunisian star added. "But right now, I feel it's time to take a step back and finally put myself first: to breathe, to heal, and to rediscover the joy of simply living."
How to watch Venus Williams at the 2025 DC Open
Williams' return to the WTA court begins on Monday, when the legend will pair up with fellow US player Hailey Baptiste in an opening doubles match against the US's Clervie Ngounoue and Canada's Eugenie Bouchard at 2:30 PM ET.
Her 2025 DC Open singles campaign kicks off against Stearns at 10 AM ET on Tuesday.
Live coverage of all tournament matches will air on the Tennis Channel.
Toy titan Mattel is celebrating March 8th's International Women’s Day by launching a new Barbie Role Model line that features two famous athlete duos.
Highlighting the importance of female friendships, the brand has focused this year's campaign on 2024 Olympic gold medal-winning gymnasts Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey as well as Australian tennis icons Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Ash Barty.
Chiles and Carey also repped Team USA at the 2021 Tokyo Games, where Chiles helped the US take silver in the team competition, while Carey earned individual gold in the floor exercise.
"I’ve always been passionate about empowering the next generation of female athletes and I couldn’t be more grateful to be recognized as a Barbie as a Role Model this International Women’s Day with Jordan," said Carey.
"Together, we are so excited to showcase the limitless power of friendship to girls everywhere. I wouldn’t be here today without support and encouragement from great friends like Jordan."
Barbie honors First Nations Australian tennis stars
Former world No. 1 tennis stars and First Nations Australians Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Ash Barty also feature in the Barbie collection.
Barty retired in 2022 with wins in three of the four Grand Slams. Aboriginal sports legend Goolagong Cawley exited the sport in 1985 with 86 WTA Tour singles titles, including seven Grand Slam trophies.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would be a Barbie myself," Barty told reporters. "I think it's just such an incredible experience to be a part of."
Another women's sports crossover for Barbie
This isn’t Barbie’s first foray into women’s sports. Past collections gave athletes like WNBA legend Sue Bird, Canadian soccer superstar Christine Sinclair, and tennis trailblazer Venus Williams the iconic doll's treatment.
Barbie also released lines in connection with the 2011 Women's World Cup. Additionally, the toy brand spotlighted women's sports with its 2023 Career of the Year collection. And late last year, Barbie partnered with the PWHL to release branded accessories representing the pro hockey league's teams.
"There’s no power or peace quite like knowing you have a support system of women behind you," remarked Chiles. "I hope that partnering with Barbie to celebrate the power of female friendship reminds the next generation of champions that we are stronger together."
Newly minted Australian Open champion Madison Keys added the highest WTA rankings of her career to her resume on Monday, rising to No. 5 despite withdrawing from last week’s Dubai Open with a leg injury.
The first-time Grand Slam winner joins fellow US standouts No. 3 Coco Gauff and No. 4 Jessica Pegula in the Top 5 WTA rankings, marking the first time three US women have featured in that elite echelon since Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, and Jennifer Capriati did so in 2003.
While Emma Navarro slid in at No. 10 to give the US four of the Top 10 WTA rankings, a breakthrough title-winning run at the 2025 Dubai Open launched Mirra Andreeva into the upper tier. The 17-year-old jumped five spots to claim No. 9 and become the youngest Top 10-ranked WTA player since 2007.
The sport's top two players held steady in Monday's shakeup, with No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Świątek keeping their ground.
That said, with the WTA Tour returning Stateside next week, expect more rankings movement — and perhaps a few surprise entries — as players continue to prep for the three Grand Slams remaining in the 2025 season.
Former WTA No. 1 Venus Williams will not play at Indian Wells
Contrary to last week’s widespread reports, tennis legend Venus Williams — who first rose to No. 1 in the WTA rankings 23 years ago this week — said she will not be participating in next month's 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
"I love Indian Wells, I would love to be there," the 44-year-old US icon told the crowd during a public appearance in Denmark on Monday. "If I could have accepted it, I would have loved to be there, but I already made commitments."
"We wish Venus all the best and hope to see her back in Indian Wells in the future," said tournament director Tommy Haas in response, reversing the Open’s earlier social media announcement of Williams' wild card berth.
On Wednesday, US tennis icon Venus Williams was awarded a wild card spot to play in next month’s BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, with the 44-year-old signing onto participate in her first WTA competition in a almost a year.
Williams has not featured in a tour event since the 2024 Miami Open, exiting that tournament in her March 19th opening match after dropping two straight sets to Diana Shnaider.
Venus Williams continues her storied tennis career
Often stating her desire to play professional tennis for as long as she can, the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion has never officially announced her retirement.
"Serena ruined it for me," Williams joked during an October 2024 TV interview, referencing her sister’s 2022 retirement. "Because as soon as she retired, everybody thought I retired."
Williams, who turned pro over 30 years ago, boasts a resume with 49 singles trophies and five Olympic medals. Her combined 21 Grand Slam titles includes five Wimbledon singles championships, two US Open singles trophies, and 14 doubles titles alongside her younger sister.
While she has more major singles titles than any other active woman on tour, Williams hasn't added to her tally since winning the Taiwan Open in February 2016.
Having drastically decreased her competition schedule over the last few seasons, Williams has competed in just nine events over the past two years.
"At this point, it’s about picking and choosing places I want to be," she said.
A roller coaster history with Indian Wells
Given her stated intention to specifically choose her competition appearances, it's somewhat interesting that Williams set her sights on the Indian Wells tournament.
While she first competed at the event in 1994, both Williams and her sister boycotted the tournament for 14 years following Serena's experience during the 2001 final. Though she ultimately won the title, then-19-year-old Serena experienced booing and racist abuse during the match — an ordeal the younger Williams sister called "very traumatizing."
Serena ultimately returned to the competition in 2015, with Venus doing the same in 2016.
With 10 Indian Wells appearances on her resume, including three trips to the competition's semifinals, this year's tournament marks the second-straight year that Williams will play as a wild card entry. At the 2024 edition, she fell 6-2, 3-6, 0-6 to Nao Hibino in the first round.
How to watch the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells tennis tournament
The 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells runs from March 2nd through 16th.
With her wild card berth, Williams will begin play when the main draw starts on March 5th.
Live coverage of the tournament will air across the Tennis Channel's platforms.
Alex Morgan is getting into golf.
The U.S. women’s national team and San Diego Wave star announced Friday that she is joining The Golf League as an investor in the Los Angeles team, alongside retired LPGA great Michelle Wie West, tennis legends Serena and Venus Williams, NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and more.
“It’s official, my husband and I are married to the game,” she wrote on social media. “I’m thrilled to announce my involvement as an investor with @WeAreLAGC, the inaugural team of @TGL!”
It’s official, my husband and I are married to the game😎
— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) September 29, 2023
I’m thrilled to announce our involvement as investors with @WeAreLAGC , the inaugural team of @TGL! pic.twitter.com/fw8Bfa5tTs
TGL is a new league set to begin play in January 2024, founded by golfers Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Some of the top players in the world will compete in three-on-three team competitions using golf simulator technology.
Initially, four teams were announced: Boston, New York, Atlanta and LA. Two more are expected to join the league, which has partnered with the PGA Tour.
“We’re providing a form of the game that looks more like other sports,” Mike McCarley — CEO of Tmrw Sports, the company behind TGL — told Fast Company. “This is going to be an NBA courtside experience, whether you’re there in person or watching on television.”
It’s unknown if or when pros from the LPGA will become involved in the new league. But other investors in the league, including Serena Williams’ husband and fellow TGL investor Alexis Ohanian, are committed to making that happen.
“My first question was, when can we get the LPGA involved? And it’s not just because my daughter is into golf,” Ohanian said. “It would be nice to help elevate the women’s game.”
Ohanian first connected with Morgan when he started tuning into the NWSL, and he later joined Angel City FC as an investor. Now, he’s helped the soccer star become part of TGL.
“Golf has become a family hobby,” Morgan told Fast Company. “So, [investing in LAGC] was a no brainer. It’s something I wanted to be a part of.”
From there, Morgan reached out to Wie West, who was on board almost immediately.
“It’s great to have the same mission: democratizing the dream, breaking down the stigmas of golf, and really showcasing how fun it is,” Wie West said. “We really want to use TGL, to use technology, to help bring this sport to people and communities that would have not otherwise been exposed to it.”
She’s also committed to bringing women golfers into the sport.
“I’ve had many conversations with LPGA Tour Commissioner Mollie [Marcoux Samaan],” she said. “Getting women involved is something that’s very important to me. We’re gonna make it happen. When? I hope soon.”