Eighth-ranked Ben Shelton opened his 2026 campaign with a straight-set victory, beating Francisco Comesana 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the ATP Tour event in Auckland.

The top seed, who received a first-round bye at the ATP 250 tournament he has used to start his season the last four years, saved a set point in the opening set and closed out the match in 1 hour, 42 minutes. With his coach and father Brian Shelton and partner Trinity Rodman watching courtside, Shelton delivered 12 aces and won 78% of his first-serve points, though his play occasionally showed signs of recent inactivity.

“I feel great, knocked off a little bit of rust but just feel great to be back playing, back competing,” Shelton said. “I think it’s great when you get to play a competitive match, feel the tension at certain points of the match and then obviously get a win and give yourself the opportunity to play again.”

Shelton faced a break point in his first service game and initially found Comesana’s serve difficult to break. Comesana had a set point at 5-4 but overhit a backhand down the line when Shelton approached the net. Shelton held, broke for 6-5 and then broke again in the opening game of the second set, carrying that advantage to seal the victory.

The Auckland stop is a lead-in event to the Australian Open, which starts Sunday in Melbourne.

Second seed Casper Ruud was upset in the second round by unseeded Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, 6-4, 6-4. Marozsan, who eliminated defending champion Gael Monfils in the first round, broke Ruud in the opening game and took the first set in 40 minutes. Ruud raised his serving level in the second set, but Marozsan broke again in the ninth game and held to win.

“I had a great serve today and I tried to push my game, tried to be aggressive, tried to believe in myself and everything just happened today,” Marozsan said. “It was a good day for me and hopefully I can keep going.”

Fifth-seeded Cameron Norrie also exited in round two, losing 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Fabian Marozsan rallied from a set down to beat defending champion Gael Monfils 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the opening match of Monfils’ previously announced farewell season. The 26-year-old Marozsan overcame a strong start from the 39-year-old Monfils to prevail in exactly two hours.

Monfils, who won the Auckland title in 2025, claimed the first set after breaking for a 7-5 set victory following a break in the 11th game. He produced 10 aces over the course of the match but surrendered his first service game in the second set. Marozsan seized the momentum by pulling off two superb winners at the net and captured the second set 6-3.

In the decisive set, Monfils dropped serve in the fifth game but immediately broke back and pressed Marozsan with his varied power. Marozsan secured the crucial break at 5-4 and held serve to close out the win.

The result came three days after Monfils’ wife, Elina Svitolina, won her 19th WTA Tour title on the same court. Monfils told his wife before her final, “if you don’t win this year I don’t know what to tell you anymore.” Svitolina and Monfils are one of only a few husband and wife teams to have held ATP and WTA singles titles in the same tournament at the same time.

This match marked Monfils’ first tournament outing since September. Marozsan’s comeback, highlighted by timely net play and a decisive late break, ended the defending champion’s bid to repeat at the event in what Monfils has described as his farewell campaign.

Top-seeded Elina Svitolina captured her 19th WTA Tour title Sunday at the ASB Classic, defeating seventh-seeded Wang Xinyu 6-3, 7-6 (8). The 13th-ranked Svitolina improved to 5-0 to open the year after ending 2025 on a four-match losing streak and now owns 19 titles from 24 finals appearances.

This was Svitolina’s first tournament since she took a mental health break that ended her 2025 season in September. She was supported courtside throughout the week by her husband Gael Monfils, who won the men’s title in Auckland last year and will defend that title from Monday.

“It definitely feels amazing to win another title, especially after a not very pleasant end of year for me,” Svitolina said. “But that break really helped me to regroup and come back with a new energy and I’m very happy that I got a title here.

“This one was very special because, obviously, my husband won here last year and this year he told me if you don’t win this year I don’t know what to tell you anymore.”

Svitolina showed resilience from the start, saving a break point in her opening service game. Wang, in her first WTA Tour final, displayed sharp net play and a well-disguised drop shot, weapons notable from her French Open doubles success.

Svitolina converted her first break opportunity in the sixth game and closed out the opening set in just over 30 minutes. In the second set, Wang held a tight opening game and used a drop shot to force Svitolina out of position, then survived break points in the fifth with a running volley and pushed to lead 5-4.

The match reached a tiebreak where Wang took an early advantage, but Svitolina quickly recovered. She produced two powerful serves to move ahead 6-5, survived a saved championship point and then seized a crucial minibreak before serving out the victory on her second match point.

Svitolina now heads to Melbourne, where she will play an exhibition against fourth-ranked Amanda Anisimova on Wednesday.