MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic has had a walkover into the Australian Open quarterfinals after Jakub Mensik withdrew 24 hours ahead of their scheduled fourth-round match with an abdominal injury.
The tournament confirmed Mensik's withdrawal late Sunday. The match had been scheduled for Rod Laver Arena on Monday night.
“After last couple of matches, I started to feel worse, and actually the problem is my abdominal muscle on the left side,” Mensik said in comments published by the tournament. “Like I said, last few matches it got significantly worse, and I think if I would step on the court tomorrow, it would be such a big risk for me for my next weeks, for my next tournaments, and actually for my health.”
No. 16-seeded Mensik beat Ethan Quinn in straight sets on Saturday. He was the second player in as many days to withdraw before a match because of an abdominal injury, with Naomi Osaka pulling out of her fourth-round match on Saturday night.
Novak Djokovic has won the Australian Open a record 10 times and is a 24-time major winner.
He became the first player to reach 400 wins in Grand Slam singles when he beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Saturday night in the third round.
Djokovic will be content with a night off as he continues to fine-tune his bid to end the dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner of the major titles in the last two years.
The 38-year-old former No. 1 won his last major singles title in 2023. He reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events last year but didn't reach a championship match.
After his third-round win here, Djokovic said two-time defending Australian Open champion Sinner and 22-year-old Alcaraz are “playing on a different level right now (but) I’m still trying to give these young guys a push for their money.”
With his first-round win over Pedro Martinez, Djokovic equaled two all-time tennis records by starting his 21st Australian Open and his 81st Grand Slam event, and he added another milestone with his 100th win at Melbourne Park.
That made him the first man to win 100 or more matches on three surfaces at the Grand Slams, with his 102 on grass at Wimbledon and 101 on clay at Roland Garros.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts after defeating Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands in their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic celebrates after defeating Ethan Quinn of the U.S. in their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts after defeating Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands in their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
NAHARIYA, Israel (AP) — Israel said Sunday its military was conducting a “large-scale operation” to locate the last hostage in Gaza, as Washington and other mediators pressure Israel and Hamas to move into the next phase of their ceasefire.
The statement came as Israel’s Cabinet met to discuss the possibility of opening Gaza’s key Rafah border crossing with Egypt, and a day after top U.S. envoys met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about next steps.
The return of the remaining hostage, Ran Gvili, has been widely seen as removing the remaining obstacle to moving ahead with opening the Rafah crossing and proceeding with the U.S.-brokered ceasefire's second phase.
Late Sunday, Netanyahu's office in a statement said: "Upon completion of this operations, and in accordance with what has been agreed upon with the United States, Israel will open the Rafah crossing.” It gave no details on how long that would be, but Israeli military officials were quoted in local media as saying the operation could take days to complete.
The return of all remaining hostages, alive or dead, has been a central part of the first phase of the ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10. Before Sunday, the previous hostage was recovered in early December.
While Israel has carried out search efforts before for Gvili, more detail than usual was released about this one. Israel’s military said it was searching a cemetery in northern Gaza near the Yellow Line, which marks off Israeli-controlled parts of the territory.
Separately, an Israeli military official said Gvili may have been buried in the Shijaiya-Tuffah area of Gaza City, and that rabbis and dental experts were on the ground with specialized search teams. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing an operation still under way.
Gvili’s family has urged Netanyahu’s government not to enter the ceasefire’s second phase until his remains are returned.
But pressure has been building, and the Trump administration has already declared in recent days that the second phase is under way.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of dragging its feet in the recovery of the final hostage. Hamas in a statement Sunday said it had provided all the information it had about Gvili’s remains, and accused Israel of obstructing efforts to search for them in areas of Gaza under Israeli military control.
The shuttered headquarters of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in east Jerusalem was set ablaze overnight, days after Israeli bulldozers demolished parts of the compound.
It was not known who started the fire. Israeli settlers were observed at night looting the main building for furniture, said Roland Friedrich, the agency’s West Bank director. He said multiple holes were cut in the fence.
Israel’s fire department said it sent teams to prevent the blaze from spreading. In May 2024, UNRWA said it was closing its compound after settlers set fires to its fence.
Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini of the agency, also known as UNRWA, told The Associated Press the incident was the “latest attack on the U.N. in the ongoing attempt to dismantle the status of Palestine refugees.”
UNRWA’s mandate is to provide aid and services to some 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as 3 million more refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. But its operations were curtailed last year when Israel’s Knesset passed legislation severing ties and banning it from functioning in what it defines as Israel, including east Jerusalem.
Israel has long railed against the agency, accusing it of being infiltrated by Hamas and alleging that some of its employees were involved in the 2023 attack that triggered Israel’s two-year war in Gaza. UNRWA leaders have said they took swift action against the employees accused of taking part in the attack, and have denied allegations that the agency tolerates or collaborates with Hamas.
Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Associated Press writer Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed.
People hold signs with a photo of Ran Gvili, who was killed while fighting Hamas militants during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and whose body has been held in Gaza ever since, during a rally calling for his return in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
