Brazilian tennis players Beatriz Haddad Maia and Luisa Stefani opened the 2026 season this Monday (12) at the WTA 500 in Adelaide (Australia), a preparatory tournament for the Australian Open, the first of the circuit’s four Grand Slams. In the singles contest, Haddad debuted with a comeback defeat to Canadian revelation Victoria Mboko, by 2 sets to 1 (5/7, 6/3, and 6/2) and said an early goodbye to the competition. Stefani’s pair with Czech Marie Bouzkova advanced to the quarterfinals after an easy victory over the partnership between Estonian Ingrid Neel and Norwegian Ulrikke Eikeri, by 2 sets to 0 (6/3 and 6/0).
The next challenge for Stefani’s pair (13th in the world rankings) is scheduled for late Tuesday night (13) or early Wednesday morning (14), against the partnership of Kazakh Anna Danilina and Serbian Aleksandra Krunic (seed 4).
Due to an injury to partner Gabriela Dabrowski (Canada), Stefani competes in the WTA in Adelaide in a pair with Marie Bouzkova (Czech Republic). The next game will be against top seeds Anna Danilina 9Kazakhstan) and Aleksandra Krunic (Serbia) – Disclosure/AUX Ningbo Open
“Marie [Bouzkova] She is a solid player, who naturally complements the way I play. So, we don’t need to adapt to the characteristics. We had great chemistry from the start and made a good debut. Happy to start the year with today’s victory and excited about the next round, which I hope will be a good game”, analyzed Stefani, who competes alongside Bouzkova, due to an injury to Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski.
Stefani and Dabrowski resumed their partnership for the 2026 circuit after a two-year hiatus. The two played side by side between 2020 and 2023, when they were champions of the WTA 1000 in Montreal (Canada) and runner-up in the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati and WTA 500 in San Jose, both in the United States.
On Monday night (12), the Gaucho duo Rafael Matos and Orlando Luz will debut in the men’s tournament in Adelaide. They will face the partnership of North American Austin Krajicek and Croatian Nicola Mektic, starting at 9:30 pm (Brasília time).
João Fonseca should debut this season as the 28th seed at the Australian Open, which starts next Sunday (18), in Melbourne – Reuters/Matias Baglietto/Rights Reserved
João Fonseca will be seeded at the Australian Open
After 11 years, Brazil can once again have a seed in a Grand Slam – the representative was Thomaz Bellucci, at the US Open. It will be the 19-year-old tennis player from Rio de Janeiro, who is recovering from lower back pain that took him out of the first two tournaments of the year (Brisbane and Adelaide). In the update of the ATP rankings this Monday (12), João appears in 30th position in the world rankings – only the top 32 on the list will be seeded at the Australian Open. With the withdrawal of the British Jack Draper (11th) and the Danish Holger Rune (16th), the expectation is that Fonseca will debut as seed 28. The opening of the Grand Slam in Melbourne will be next Sunday (18).
In addition to João Fonseca, Bia Haddad is also confirmed for the Australian Open, but will not be seeded. Haddad brought the end of last season to September to take care of his mental health. As she stopped competing in several tournaments, the Brazilian lost positions in the rankings and now occupies 39th place.
Thiago Wild begins his search for a place in the main draw of the Australian Grand Slam at 8pm this Monday (120, in a duel against Ecuadorian Álvaro Guillen Meza – REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Reproduction prohibited
Melbourne Qualifier
In search of a place in the main draw of the Australian Grand Slam, Thiago Wild from Paraná (216th in the ranking) faces Ecuadorian Álvaro Guillen Meza (193rd) in the first of three qualifying rounds, starting at 8pm this Monday (12).
On Sunday (11), Gustavo Heide (238th) from São Paulo qualified for the second round of qualifying by defeating Briton Jay Clarke (178th) with a double 6/3. The next opponent will be Croatian Dino Prizmic (127th), at 8pm on Tuesday (13th). Compatriots João Lucas Reis and Laura Pigossi were surpassed, respectively, by the Portuguese Henrique Rocha and the Chinese Lin Zhun.
