Australian Open Men’s Day 2 Recap: Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev Off to a Strong Start, Stan Wawrinka Wins, Felix Auger-Aliassime Eliminated

Day 2 at the Australian Open didn’t see many upsets in general, but it did see Felix Auger-Aliassime get eliminated by Nuno Borges, even if injury was ultimately the deciding factor there. It also saw Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev post relatively straightforward wins and Stan Wawrinka getting what might possibly be the last Australian Open match win of his career in a very exciting match.

Australian Open Men’s Day 2 Recap

Who looked good

Stan Wawrinka got what could well be the last Australian Open win of his career with a very good performance with some epic points against Laslo Djere. He showed that he still has some very good tennis in him despite his age, and a second round against Arthur Gea will definitely be an opportunity to go even further in the draw.

Andrey Rublev had a perhaps surprisingly easy time against Matteo Arnaldi, winning in routine straight sets. Still looking for his first ever Grand Slam semifinal, Rublev seems to be in great form and ready to challenge here.

Marin Cilic got a rare double bagel over Daniel Altmaier, followed by a tiebreak win in the third set. Just like Wawrinka, he’s showing that he still has some very good tennis left in him and he could go further if he keeps up this level.

Novak Djokovic remains as strong as ever, and his performance against Pedro Martinez shows that he is likely to remain a contender for Slams for a while yet and he won’t be easy to beat.

Who looked bad

Jiri Lehecka has been struggling with injury in early 2026 and he will be very disappointed to have lost in the first round here in straights to Gea, at the venue where he broke through with a quarterfinal back in 2023.

Also struggling with injury, Felix Auger-Aliassime collected his 13th first round loss at a Slam against Nuno Borges, who keeps performing above his usual Tour level at Slams.

In his first ever Slam as a seed, Arthur Rinderknech didn’t manage to live up to it and lost to Fabian Marozsan in the first round here. The Hungarian played well and could well go on a decent run here.

Match of the Day

The most exciting and high quality match of the day was easily the five-set battle between Learner Tien and Marcos Giron. Giron had the upperhand for a large part of it, but Tien showed his already trademark tenacity and clutch play, managed to somehow take it to a fifth set and got another epic win in Melbourne like he had done last year against Daniil Medvedev.