Nick Kyrgios and Leylah Fernandez mixed doubles adventure comes to an end in damaging defeat in less than an hour

Nick Kyrgios' Australian Open hopes have come to a very underwhelming close after he and Leylah Fernandez were knocked out of the mixed doubles event against James Tracy and Anna Danilina 6-3, 6-1.

There was a lot of hope and anticipation from tennis fans, especially Australians, who were hoping to see Kyrgios back on the court competing regularly throughout the Australian swing, However, things have not turned out as planned.

His fitness was a large concern heading into 2026 with just a few exhibition matches under his belt. He lost in the first round of the Brisbane International in the singles to Aleksandar Kovacevic, which all but dashed any hopes of a wildcard for the Australian Open. However, before that in the doubles him and Thanasi Kokkinakis blossomed on court once more. The 2022 Australian Open doubles champions had both struggled badly with injuries in their hampered careers, but could afford a smile on their face after winning an intense match against Matthew Ebden and Rajeev Ram.

They would exit at the next hurdle, with their sights set on success at Melbourne. Fellow Aussie wildcard pairing Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans drew a swift conclusion to this event, but Kyrgios still had the mixed doubles to play in, partnering former US Open finalist Fernandez.

Their first test came against Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski. After losing the first tiebreaker 8-6 with a set point of their own squandered, Kyrgios and Fernandez clinched the only break of the match to force a third and deciding tiebreak for the match. After going 9-6 ahead, Krawczyk and Skupski had three match points, but missed every single one. Kyrgios and Fernandez came charging back before getting over the line with their second match point for a brilliant and resilient victory.

The fortunes of the pair would however come tumbling down in their round-of-16 match against Danilina and Tracy. It took just 57 minutes for the Kazakh and the American to get the job done in what turned out to be a very routine victory.

After failing to take an early break point, they broke to love to sail into a 3-1 lead. It stayed on serve for the rest of the set with Kyrgios and Fernandez unable to find a pathway back into the set.

The door would be firmly shut in the second set. After picking up the first game, the duo of Grand Slam finalists would not get another game on the board. Danilina and Tracy would comprehensively run away with it, winning six games on the spin to confirm a spot in the quarter-finals where the number two seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Luisa Stefani await.

For Kyrgios and Fernandez, a disappointing Australian Open comes to an end. While there were moments of entertainment on the court, both players were unable to collect the results that they were intending. Aside from that opening round win in the mixed doubles, Fernandez did not have much to cheer about. After coming off a great back-end to 2025, she has lost int he first round of the Brisbane International, Adelaide International and most crucially the Australian Open without even picking up a set in any of them.

For Kyrgios, he is expected to continue his march back to regularly competing on the ATP Tour, hoping to get back to the heights he once was at. After three years of injury nightmares and setbacks, he is hoping that this is the stepping stone for a consistent patch of form and matches.