The last day of Australian Open qualifying will settle both men’s and women’s lines into the 128-player main draws. Sixteen men and 16 women will finish the job when Thursday’s matches conclude.

There are several narratives worth watching. After missing the final three majors of the 2025 season with a foot injury, former semifinalist Sloane Stephens is attempting to win her way into the main draw. Playing in major qualifying for the first time since 2011 Wimbledon, the 2017 US Open champion is scheduled to meet No. 2 seed Lucia Bronzetti.

Stephens is one of 11 Americans trying to expand the U.S. presence in Melbourne. Among that group are Taylor Townsend, who reached the round of 16 at last year’s US Open, and two-time reigning NCAA champion Michael Zheng. Townsend faces wild card Storm Hunter in qualifying, while Zheng plays No. 28 seed Lukas Klein.

A cluster of rising men are also on the cusp. Four of the eight players from December’s Next Gen ATP Finals need one more victory to reach the main draw. Nishesh Basavareddy, 20, is among them; he took a set off Novak Djokovic in his major debut at Melbourne Park last year and reached his final-round match coming off a double match point save. Rafael Jodar, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer and Dino Prizmic are the other Next Gen competitors a win away.

Coleman Wong arrives in qualifying having just reached his first ATP quarterfinal at his hometown event. He is part of a broader group of hopefuls aiming to convert form into a place in the main field.

Four Australian players with main-draw experience are unseeded in qualifying and due on court: wild card Storm Hunter, Maddison Inglis, Jason Kubler and Dane Sweeny. Each has navigated qualifying before and could again provide home interest in the opening rounds.

When Thursday finishes, those 32 winners will complete the Australian Open draws and set the stage for the tournament to begin.

The Australian Open’s 1 Point Slam exhibition turned into a memorable evening when amateur Jordan Smith claimed the A$1,000,000 prize at Rod Laver Arena. The Happy Slam event paired top professionals with Australian amateurs and celebrities in a fast, unpredictable format that produced early exits for many stars.

Emcee Rennae Stubbs summed up the mood after a surprise result when she said, “Everybody’s human!” following Coco Gauff’s fault that ended her participation. Several high-profile players were unable to convert their serves into wins: Jannik Sinner, Frances Tiafoe and Gauff all failed to advance, and other notable names eliminated from contention included Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek, Alexander Zverev, Amanda Anisimova, Elena Rybakina and Nick Kyrgios. The ATP’s world No. 1 fell to Maria Sakkari after undercutting a drop shot.

Smith, representing the Castle Hill Tennis Club in New South Wales, defeated Joanna Garland in the final. Garland had lost her women’s singles qualifying opener on Monday but produced a run that reached the 1 Point Slam final. She eliminated Zverev, Kyrgios, Sakkari and Donna Vekic on her way to the title match.

After securing the prize, Smith said, “I can’t speak. It’s unbelievable.” The exhibition atmosphere was light-hearted at times: players and guests used rock, paper, scissors to decide who would serve and receive, and the evening featured moments of genuine celebration and surprise. Photographs from the event captured the mixture of levity and competitive spark, from immediate reactions to successful match points to shared laughs when amateurs produced highlight-worthy plays.

The second-year 1 Point Slam proved entertaining for the crowd and delivered an unexpected champion in Smith, who walked away with the substantial winner’s payout amid a cast of the sport’s most recognizable faces.

Sebastian Ofner celebrated what he thought was a match-winning lead, only for a tiebreak rule to force more tennis and hand Nishesh Basavareddy the opening. The 29-year-old Austrian raised his arms and walked toward the net after taking a 7-1 lead in the decisive tiebreaker against Nishesh Basavareddy. The chair umpire sent Ofner back to continue playing the super tiebreaker until he got at least 10 points – not seven – and was two points ahead.

Minutes later, Basavareddy completed a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11) win after Ofner had two match-point chances. At the net the 20-year-old American made an apparent choking gesture with both hands on his neck.

“I saw him tense up a little bit,” Basavareddy said of Ofner’s reaction to the score mishap, adding “generally when that happens, you start overthinking like, ‘Oh, I thought I already won the match, through to the next round.’ So, yeah, that definitely gave me a little bit of hope.”

Basavareddy advanced from that dramatic finish and now faces George Loffhagen of Britain for a place in the main draw first round – where the American took the first set off Novak Djokovic one year ago. The match underlined how a misunderstanding of the deciding tiebreak procedure altered momentum and outcome, turning a seemingly comfortable lead into a comeback victory for Basavareddy.

The result eliminates Ofner from Australian Open qualifying and moves Basavareddy one step closer to the main draw, after a match decided by both fine play and an enforced continuation of the tiebreak to the prescribed 10-point threshold.