2026 Australian Open: Sun Xinran and Shao Yushan both reach the girls' singles quarterfinals

On January 29th, 2026, the girls' singles event at the Australian Open continued with the third round matches. Two young Chinese players competing today at the ANZ Stadium, sixth seed Sun Xinran and eleventh seed Shao Yushan, each defeated their opponents to advance. This marks the first time since Bai Zhuoxuan in 2020 that Chinese players have reached the girls' singles quarterfinals at the Australian Open.

Photo of Shao Yushan by Huang Shangyue

Shao Yushan, who played first, faced Pushkareva in this round. The two had met last year in the semifinals of the China Open junior girls' singles, where Shao emerged victorious. In today's match, Shao lost the first set after being broken once, but she caught up in the second set to level the match. In the deciding set, despite being down 0-3, Shao won five consecutive games and ultimately triumphed 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 after a 1 hour and 57-minute battle.

Last year, Shao Yushan reached the round of 16 at the US Open, and now by making the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, she has set a new personal best. In the quarterfinals, Shao will compete against Zolotareva for a spot in the semifinals; Zolotareva advanced by defeating another Chinese player, Qu Yihan, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-1 in this round.

Photo of Sun Xinran by Li Jianyi

Next to play was Sun Xinran, who took on 18-year-old Czech player Zoldakova. In the first set, both players held serve until the tiebreak, where Sun led throughout but only secured the set at the fourth set point with an 8-6 score. The narrow loss of the first set drained Zoldakova’s energy. In the second set, Sun started strongly with a 4-0 lead; although she lost her serve after missing five match points, causing some emotional fluctuation, she soon broke back in her opponent’s crucial service game by winning four straight points and closed out the match 7-6(6), 6-3.

Sun Xinran’s previous best result in junior Grand Slams was also reaching the round of 16 at last year’s US Open. Winning the U18 Orange Bowl title at the end of last year boosted her confidence, and this Australian Open marks a new career best. She will next face Tupitsyna for a place in the semifinals.

2026 Australian Open Girls’ Singles Quarterfinals Matchups

[13] M. Makarova vs. Frodin [8]

Tupitsyna vs. Sun Xinran [6]

[10] Zedaijian vs. Yefremova [3]

[11] Shao Yushan vs. Zolotareva

Both Sun Xinran and Shao Yushan’s victories to reach the quarterfinals mark the first time in six years since Bai Zhuoxuan made the semifinals in 2020 that Chinese young players have advanced this far in the Australian Open girls’ singles. Back then, 18-year-old Bai defeated strong opponents like Noskova, Schneider, and P. Kudermetova before falling to Kasintseva. Additionally, in 2018, Wang Xinyu also reached the Australian Open girls’ singles semifinals and claimed the girls’ doubles title.

(Text and editing by: Dato)