British Preview Australian Open 2026 Second Round | Raducanu, Norrie, Fery set their sights on more progress as four Brits exit at first hurdle

Seven hopeful British tennis players made the trip halfway around the world to compete in the 2026 Australian Open, hoping to end on a positive not. After round one, three remain left on the battlefield.

With round one now at a conclusion, the British contingent shine less bright than before in the savage Grand Slam format. The best players in the world are in Melbourne, competing for the top prizes on offer in the sport. With this comes sacrifices, with the British fans watching overseas unfortunately seeing a large number of them not able to make the progress intended, while other top tennis players watch from home, eager to get back onto the court.

The most notable player left is Emma Raducanu. The former US Open champion leads the British hopes Down Under as she did on debut at the United Cup. She comes into the event once again as a seed, showing off the progress that she has completed over the last year or so.

After a very disappointing exit in the Hobart International as the top seed, she needed to quickly get back in the winning enclosure. It would prove to be a triumphant return to Melbourne Park, but it was not a stroll in the park against the Thailand number two Manachaya Sawangkaew. Her opponent raced out into a 4-2 lead with Raducanu on the ropes. Fortunately, she upped her level and won four on the spin to take the first set. She made this seven in a row before comfortably seeing out the match 6-4, 6-1.

Her next task will come against the world number 55 Anastasia Potapova on January 21 on the ANZ Arena. It is a first time meeting between the pair, with the new Austrian number one not an easy obstacle to past. However, it is more realistic than who she could face in the third round, with world number one Aryna Sabalenka possibly waiting in the wings. After their thriller at Wimbledon, Raducanu will be ready for that possible test but will need to deal with Potapova first.

While she was the only women to make it through, the men had more positive returns. Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Cameron Norrie is coming back to form after a rejuvenated 2025 which saw him reach the quarter-finals at SW19. He would be put through his paces against Benjamin Bonzi, in what would be a hard fought victory for Norrie.

After bagelling his opponent in the first set, he was on the wrong end of two tight sets. However, he determinedly fought his way back into the match, not letting the result slip away from him. In three hours and 39 minutes, Norrie finally got over the line in a huge result. Similar to Raducanu, he also returns to action on Wednesday with American Emilo Nava awaiting in the second round with a clash versus Alexander Zverev possible further along the line.

Finally, it was delight for Arthur Fery. On his Australian Open debut, he took down an out of sorts Flavio Cobolli 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-1 in a huge upset win against the 20th seed. He will be full of confidence as he looks towards a second appearance in round two of a Grand Slam, following on from Wimbledon in 2025.

Tomas Martin Etcheverry is the next task at hand. The Argentine has slowly declined down the rankings, but will still be a very tough test for the 23-year-old with him previously been ranked in the top 30 and make a Roland Garros quarter-final.

Of the four exits, one of these was sadly a retirement for the distraught Francesca Jones. It was the second time in the Australian Open main draw, but still without a victory. She suffered dearly with a glute problem, which would be her ultimate downfall against Linda Klimovicova. The British number three was in tears when getting treatment, and despite soldiering on was unable to finish the match, calling it a day at 6-2, 6-3.

It was more resounding defeats for both Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter, as they kicked off their Grand Slam campaigns in disappointing fashions. Kartal was in a dogfight against Anna Kalinskaya in the first set, breaking to go 3-1 ahead before being pipped back by the Russian. She was comprehensively seen off in the tiebreak before being blown away in a disastrous second set, losing 7-6(3), 6-1.

Boulter also had an uphill task from the beginning if she wanted to keep her Australian Open hopes alive. The inform Belinda Bencic was her opponent, and after failing to get a game in the first set it looked that she would be in for a swift exit. However, she rallied and was able to give her Swiss rival something to think about in the second. Unfortunately, Bencic proved too good on the day and Boulter left Melbourne Park empty handed.

The same could be said for Jacob Fearnley. He was on the wrong end of a 7-6(2), 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(3) defeat to Kamil Majchrzak. He could not repeat a memorable 2025 campaign where he beat Nick Kyrgios enroute to a third round exit to the hands of eventual finalist Zverev.

The obvious crater left in the British team is the void Jack Draper created when confirming the news that he would not be competing. It was looking good that the former world number four was set to make a highly anticipated return to court, but his arm injury has not healed to the extent that he would have hoped for, with the 23-year-old making the wise move to stay firmly planted in the UK and patiently wait for his chance to make a comeback.

On a different note, Dan Evans misses out on the Grand Slam but not for the want of trying. He made the trip to Australia with his only pathway into the event coming through a run at qualifying. However, this went up in smoke after a horrific 6-1, 6-2 loss to Rei Sakamoto in the first round. Oliver Crawford, Jay Clarke, Jack Pinnington Jones and Heather Watson also exited at this stage, while George Loffhagen was one set away from making the main draw but was heartbreakingly beaten by Nishesh Basavareddy.