Alcaraz and Sinner lead the Chinese team to double titles at the start of the year; eight consecutive wins! Bencic undeterred despite four losses holding her back

Three minutes daily to catch up on global tennis news. Hello tennis fans, today is Sunday, January 11, 2026. Welcome to the midday news report provided by "Tennis Home."

Let's start with the South Korea exhibition. Last night Beijing time, the Incheon exhibition match featuring two star players, world No.1 Alcaraz and world No.2 Sinner, ended excitingly. The result matched many fans’ expectations: Alcaraz narrowly defeated Sinner 7-5, 7-6, reflecting the common belief that the world No.1 should be slightly stronger than No.2. Of course, this was purely an exhibition match, with each player earning $2.3 million appearance fees, so the key was entertaining the live audience and having fun. After the match, both players will head to Melbourne to prepare for the upcoming Australian Open.

Turning back to the courts, last night Beijing time, the ATP 250 Hong Kong Open concluded its singles semifinals. The tournament’s top two seeds, Musetti and Rublev, each defeated their opponents to meet in the final. Musetti came from behind to beat Russian star Rublev 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4, while Bublik overturned American Giron 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. After reaching the final, Musetti confirmed he will break into the world Top 5 next week. If Bublik wins the title, he will enter the Top 10 for the first time.

ATP 250 Brisbane: In the singles semifinals, top seed and Russian star Medvedev defeated young American Mickelson 6-4, 6-2, maintaining a perfect 3-0 record against him and advancing to his 41st career tour-level singles final. The other final spot went to American Brandon Nakashima, who beat fellow American Kovacevic 7-6(4), 6-4.

WTA 500 Brisbane: In the doubles final concluded last night Beijing time, top seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Ostapenko swept third seeds Buksa and Perez 6-2, 6-1 to claim their first title as a team. This marks Hsieh Su-wei’s 36th tour-level doubles championship and Ostapenko’s 12th. Congratulations to Hsieh Su-wei for securing the Chinese team’s first title of the year!

The singles final will start today at 2 PM Beijing time, featuring top seed and world No.1 Sabalenka against Ukrainian rising star Kostyuk.

WTA 250 Auckland: The doubles final took place this morning Beijing time, with the Chinese duo Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan facing the China-France pair Guo Hanyu and Muradnovic. Whichever team wins will claim the Chinese squad’s second title of the year. At the time of reporting, Guo Hanyu and Muradnovic took the first set 7-6.

At noon Beijing time today, China’s second-ranked Wang Xinyu, reaching her second career tour-level singles final, will compete against Ukrainian young talent Svitolina for the singles crown. Best wishes to Wang, the beauty on court!

Next, let’s look at the United Cup mixed team event. Last night Beijing time, the semifinals concluded. Switzerland, powered by Bencic’s undefeated singles and doubles performances, defeated Belgium 2-1 to reach the final. As a new mother, Bencic played brilliantly, remaining unbeaten in eight singles and doubles matches, becoming the key contributor to Switzerland’s advancement despite Wawrinka’s repeated singles losses weighing down the team.

Poland, relying on Zelewski’s flawless mixed doubles performance in the decisive match, narrowly beat defending champions USA 2-1, reaching the final for the third consecutive year and aiming for the title again. This final will start today at 2:30 PM Beijing time. Fans, don’t miss it!

Finally, a quick guess and recognition game. The image below shows a player on vacation. Without hints, can you identify who she is?

In the previous guessing game, some fans gave the correct answer. Yes, the person in the picture is Croatian star Cilic.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Independent Thinker)