In Day 1 of the 2026 Australian Open, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Marta Kostyuk, and Flavio Cobolli were among the top ranked players upset in their first round matches.
Alexandrova remains in the tournament playing doubles with Venus Williams.
Kostyuk and Cobolli issued health updates to fans as both were in obvious distress while playing.
Marta Kostyuk
The 2026 Brisbane International finalist had an excellent start to the season only to suffer a bad fall on the court in the deciding set of the match.
She continued to play the three hour, three set, three tiebreak match.
What a marathon 🤯
Elsa Jacquemot defeats Kostyuk in a huge 3 set, 3 tiebreak, record breaking match 👏#AO26 pic.twitter.com/pGOKN98YMr
— wta (@WTA) January 18, 2026
Kostyuk revealed after the match that as a result of the fall, she tore ligaments in her ankle and withdrew from doubles.
🤯🤯🤯
A very nasty fall for Marta Kostyuk. She’s waiting for the medical team – play has been suspended pic.twitter.com/seYngC5uYr
— Ukrainian Tennis • BTU (@ukrtennis_eng) January 18, 2026
Nasty fall from Kostyuk at an awful moment, down 5-6 on serve in the final set
Physio to the court.#AO26
— ser/‘ (@intoitnose) January 18, 2026
Her social media message struck an upbeat note amid the disappointment of being out of her favorite tournament.
We hope to see a healthy Kostyuk back on court soon.
Flavio Cobolli
Cobolli lost to qualifier Arthur Fery in straight sets, but it was obvious that he was not feeling well.
Less than 10 minutes in and 🇮🇹 Cobolli already receiving some medical attention, took some tablets.
Off to a very shaky start pic.twitter.com/ezt3gjz1QW
— Tennis Masterr (@tennismasterr) January 18, 2026
His Instagram reel shows him struggling on court.
After the match, Cobolli said that he began feeling sick to his stomach earlier in the day.
“Today I woke up with a stomach problem. I did not vomit, but I lost a lot of fluids and suffered from stomach pain throughout the first set.“
To his credit, Cobolli soldiered on and did not retire despite a bathroom break that did not help.
Prior to the Australian Open, Cobolli was feeling confident and prepared so the illness, out of his control, is a crushing blow for himself and another for Italy because Matteo Berrettini was forced to withdraw before his first round match.
