Oleksandra Oliynykova continued an eye-catching start to the 2026 season by reaching her first WTA quarterfinal at the Transylvania Open. The 25-year-old followed up her breakout performance at the 2026 Australian Open with a straight-sets victory over No. 8 seed Anna Bondar, 6-4, 6-4.

Oliynykova declined to shake Bondar’s hand after the match, a decision she said was made prior to the contest because of Bondar’s participation in a 2022 Russian tournament. The North Palmyra Trophies, held six months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was sponsored by Gazprom, which Oliynykova described as “one of the key financial pillars of Russia’s war machine.”

She explained the moral basis for her stance in a statement. “These are the same funds Russia uses to kill and maim Ukrainian women and children, and to destroy our families and cities,” said the 25-year-old. “From a moral standpoint, accepting Gazprom money in December 2022 is equivalent to playing in Nazi Germany in 1941 and being paid with property taken from victims of death camps. The same evil—just 80 years later.”

Oliynykova said she would have shaken Bondar’s hand if the Hungarian had issued an apology, but none was given and Oliynykova advanced. Earlier in the week she won her first WTA main-draw match in Cluh Napoca, recovering from a set down to eliminate Mayar Sherif.

Her run at the Transylvania Open is projected to lift her to a career-high ranking of No. 78, with the possibility of moving higher if she wins her quarterfinal match. The result builds on the momentum she generated in Melbourne, where she played an entertaining first-round match against defending champion Madison Keys and drew notice for temporary face tattoos.

Oliynykova’s performances this season have combined on-court progress with a public stance on matters she regards as morally significant for Ukrainians.

Novak Djokovic did not claim what would have been the 25th Grand Slam title, falling to Carlos Alcaraz in four sets in the final, but his run in Melbourne reconfigured several all-time marks. A first-round 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Pedro Martinez made him only the second player, male or female, to reach 100 career wins at the Australian Open, behind Roger Federer, who finished with 102. Serena Williams sits next with 92.

With 101 wins at Roland Garros and 102 at Wimbledon, Djokovic became the first player in tennis history to register 100 or more career wins at three different Grand Slams. He remains two wins shy of 100 at the US Open, where he has 95 career wins.

The opening victory extended a streak to 76 consecutive first-round Grand Slam wins, the longest in the Open Era. His last first-round exit came in 2006 against Paul Goldstein. An identical 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 second-round win over Francesco Maestrelli stretched his run to 64 straight victories across the opening two rounds of majors and left him 32-0 against qualifiers at Grand Slams. Maestrelli had qualified and beaten Terence Atmane in the first round.

A 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) third-round victory over Botic van de Zandschulp made Djokovic the first player, male or female, to reach 400 career Grand Slam match wins. That result also marked his 70th career appearance in a Grand Slam round of 16, surpassing Federer’s 69, and improved his Australian Open third-round record to 18-0, with a 52-5 set record in those matches.

Jakub Mensik’s withdrawal before the fourth round due to an abdominal injury advanced Djokovic into a 16th Australian Open quarterfinal, a men’s record, and his 65th Grand Slam quarterfinal overall. Lorenzo Musetti retired in the quarters, and Djokovic then defeated Jannik Sinner in the semifinal, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, ending Sinner’s 19-match Australian Open winning streak and several other streaks Sinner held.

That semifinal was Djokovic’s 20th Top 5 win at the Australian Open, tying Rafael Nadal (at Roland Garros) for the most career Top 5 wins by a man at a single major in ATP rankings history since 1973. The victory was also his 104th match win in Melbourne, two clear of Federer, and put him into an 11th Australian Open final and a 38th Grand Slam final.

At 38, he became the oldest man in the Open Era to reach the Australian Open final and the oldest man at a major since Ken Rosewall reached finals as a 39-year-old in 1974. This is the record-extending 17th different season in which he has reached at least one major final, doing it in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and now 2016. He has reached 38 finals in the 81 majors he has played and 38 finals in the last 70 majors he has played, a stretch dating back to the 2007 US Open. The run also returned the 24-time Grand Slam champion to the Top 3 in the rankings; he had spent a record 428 career weeks at No. 1 and had been oscillating between No. 4 and No. 7 for the previous 16 months, but he moved back to No. 3 for the first time since the two weeks of the 2024 US Open.

Novak Djokovic’s march to the Australian Open final reconfigured the record books even though he did not lift the title. His first-round 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Pedro Martinez made him only the second player, male or female, to reach 100 career wins at the Australian Open, joining Roger Federer. Combined with 101 wins at Roland Garros and 102 at Wimbledon, he became the first player in history to register 100 or more career wins at three different Grand Slams.

That opening match also extended a streak: it was his 76th consecutive first-round win at Grand Slams, the longest in the Open Era. He has not exited in the first round since his 2006 loss to Paul Goldstein. A second-round 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Francesco Maestrelli pushed his run to 64 consecutive wins across the first two rounds of majors and left him 32-0 against qualifiers at Grand Slams.

The third-round 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) triumph over Botic van de Zandschulp produced another landmark: Djokovic became the first player, male or female, to record 400 career Grand Slam match wins. That result also marked his 70th career round-of-16 appearance at a major and improved his third-round record at the Australian Open to 18-0.

Jakub Mensik’s fourth-round withdrawal moved Djokovic into a 16th Australian Open quarterfinal, a men’s record, and into his 65th Grand Slam quarterfinal. After Lorenzo Musetti retired in the quarters, Djokovic defeated Jannik Sinner in a five-set semifinal, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, ending Sinner’s 19-match Australian Open winning streak and several longer streaks Sinner held against top opponents.

The win over Sinner was Djokovic’s 20th Top 5 victory at the Australian Open, tying Rafael Nadal (at Roland Garros) for the most career Top 5 wins by a man at a single major in ATP rankings history. It also lifted Djokovic to 104 career wins in Melbourne, two clear of Federer, and into his 11th Australian Open final and 38th Grand Slam final.

At 38, he became the oldest man in the Open Era to reach the Australian Open final and the oldest man at a major since Ken Rosewall in 1974. This marked the 17th different season in which he reached at least one major final, doing it in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and now 2016. He has reached 38 finals in the 81 majors he has played and 38 finals in the last 70 majors he has played. The result also returned the 24-time Grand Slam champion to the Top 3 in the rankings, his first time there since the two weeks of the 2024 US Open; he has spent a record 428 career weeks at No. 1.