Top-ranked Sabalenka and Alcaraz advance on an opening day of records at the Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz fulfilled expectations on opening night of the Australian Open, the No. 1 seeds advancing in straight sets in a Sunday session that started with tennis royalty Rod Laver and Roger Federer in the crowd.

Rod Laver Arena was heaving for their first-round matches, capping a day when a record total of 100,763 fans packed into Melbourne Park.

The 45-year-old Venus Williams set a record, too, becoming the oldest player ever in the women's singles draw at the Australian Open.

Out on John Cain Arena, the so-called People's Court because it's open to fans with ground passes, Williams was up two service breaks at 4-0 in the third set before Olga Danilovic rallied to win six straight games in a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 victory.

The seven-time major winner, playing on a wild-card entry in the singles in just her second major since returning to the tour last year, plans to continue in doubles.

“I’m really proud of my effort today because I’m playing better with each match, getting to the places that I want to get to,” she said. “Right now I’m just going to have to keep going forward and working on myself.”

Sabalenka fended off left-handed wild-card entry Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, 6-4, 6-1 after dropping the opening service game.

“I didn’t start my best. She showed up. Fired on. She was playing great,” said Sabalenka, who won the Australian title in 2023 and ’24 and was runner-up last year. “It was a tricky start.”

Sabalenka prepared for the first major of the season with a title in Brisbane but was a little more nervous than usual because Laver, the Australian great, and 20-time major winner Federer were watching.

“I’m a huge fan. I wanted to show great tennis so you guys enjoyed watching me play,” she said. “There was definitely a lot of pressure. I was walking, thinking ‘don’t look there, don’t look there!’”

Her next round is against Chinese qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan, who outlasted 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10) in a 2-hour, 43-minute match. No. 28 Emma Raducanu, who could potentially meet Sabalenka in the third round, beat Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-4, 6-1.

Day 1 of a scheduled 15 closed with Alcaraz winning 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-2 over Adam Walton, beginning his bid to set a record for being the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam.

Alexander Zverev, runner-up here last year to Jannik Sinner, shrugged off a sluggish start to beat Gabriel Diallo 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round at Melbourne Park for the 10th straight year.

“Definitely, when I saw the draw, wasn’t too happy to be honest,” Zverev said of the tricky challenge presented by No. 41-ranked Diallo. “He’s very young, very talented. Unbelievably aggressive.”

No. 10 Alexander Bublik advanced over Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, No. 29 Frances Tiafoe overpowered Jason Kubler 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2 and Michael Zheng fended off Sebastian Korda 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (0), 6-3 in an all-American first-rounder.

Zheng, a college star at Columbia who advanced through qualifying to make his tour-level debut, will next face No. 32 Corentin Moutet, who was booed after his underarm serve on match point in a 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3 win over Tristan Schoolkate.

Two of the women’s seeds went out in the opening afternoon, with Elsa Jacquemot ousting No. 20 Marta Kostyuk 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) and Turkish qualifier Zeynep Sönmez upsetting No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

Sönmez halted her match briefly in the second set to help a ballkid who appeared to be struggling in the heat before the tournament medical team took over.

Seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini, No. 12 Elina Svitolina and Maria Sakkari all advanced in straight sets.

Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova withdrew because of a shoulder injury before her scheduled first-round match, giving a place in the main draw to Taylor Townsend, the lucky loser from qualifying, to take on Hailey Baptiste.

In a 2 1/2-hour all-American contest on Court 13, Baptiste prevailed 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3.

Coco Gauff will open play Monday on Rod Laver Arena against Kamilla Rakhimova. Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic have night matches.

Venus Williams of the U.S. plays a backhand return to Olga Danilovic of Serbia during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates after defeating Adam Walton of Australia in their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts during her first round match against Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah of France at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey and umpire Chase Urban help a ball kid who fainted from the court during her first round match against Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Alexander Zverev of Germany waves after defeating Gabriel Diallo of Canada in their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Jasmine Paolini of Italy celebrates after defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts during a press conference ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Andre Agassi of the United States and Roger Federer of Switzerland play doubles against Lleyton Hewitt and Pat Rafter of Australia during the Opening Ceremony for the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Venus Williams of the United States plays a backhand return during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain serves during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

TARVISIO, Italy (AP) — At age 41, Lindsey Vonn’s ability to consistently finish on the World Cup speed circuit’s podium is unparalleled.

Vonn finished second in a super-G on Sunday that was held amid difficult visibility to claim her seventh podium result in eight races this season.

No other skier has more than three podiums in the speed events — and Vonn's “worst” result this season is fourth. Even Mikaela Shiffrin — who has seven podiums in 14 technical races — hasn't been as consistent across all of her events.

The results make Vonn a clear medal favorite in both downhill and super-G for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, which open in less than three weeks.

Vonn was beaten only by Germany’s Emma Aicher, who is 19 years younger.

Aicher finished 0.27 seconds ahead of Vonn for her second victory this season, with former Olympic champion Ester Ledecka third, 0.94 behind.

“It was tough conditions with the visibility but I’m really happy to be on the podium again,” Vonn said. “Of course, I’m close to another win, but it is what it is. I think I’ll save the hundredths for Cortina.”

Alice Robinson, the New Zealand skier who won two giant slaloms and a super-G this season, crashed into the final gate and hit the snow hard. She got right back up and appeared to avoid serious injury but seemed shaken.

Fog on the upper section made it difficult for skiers to navigate the Prampero course.

Vonn led Aicher at every checkpoint but lost time on the final gates.

It was Aicher’s fourth career victory after two downhills and a super-G. She’s one of the few skiers on the circuit who competes in all four disciplines.

"I’m happy that I could push through and have no mistakes for once,” said Aicher, who was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and a German father.

Ledecka, the Czech racer who claimed Olympic golds in both snowboarding and skiing at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, won her first podium of the season.

Romane Miradoli of France finished fourth and Keely Cashman of the United States was fifth for the best result of her career.

The women’s circuit remains in Italy for the Kronplatz giant slalom on Tuesday.

There is only one more set of speed races before the Olympics, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Jan. 30-31.

Also Sunday, the Italian team announced that defending overall World Cup champion Federica Brignone is returning to the squad for the Kronplatz race — which would mark her first time competing since breaking multiple bones in her left leg in April.

The Italian team said Brignone would make a final decision after testing the course on Monday.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

New Zealand's Alice Robinson crashes during an alpine ski, women's World Cup Super G, in Tarvisio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

New Zealand's Alice Robinson crashes during an alpine ski, women's World Cup Super G, in Tarvisio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup Super G, in Tarvisio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Germany's Emma Aicher celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup Super G, in Tarvisio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

United States' Lindsey Vonn celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup Super G, in Tarvisio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)