Ukrainian tennis player Nadezhda Kichenok Won the opening doubles match at the WTA 250 hard court tournament held in Hobart, Australia.

With the Ukrainians in the first round Makoto Ninomiya (Japan) defeated Chan Hao-Ching (Chinese Taipei) / Jiang Xinyu (China) in two sets in 1 hour 38 minutes.

WTA 250 Hobart. Couples. Difficult, 1/8 final

Nadezhda Kichenok (Ukraine) / Makoto Ninomiya (Japan) – Chan Hao-Chin (Chinese Taipei) / Jiang Xinyu (China) [2] – 7:5, 7:5

In the first match, Nadezhda and Makoto lost 1:4, and then they won four matches in a row, winning back serve with a score of 3:5 in the set.

This was the first time the two had faced each other. Kichenok and Ninomiya will compete in the second round against Katarzyna Piter and Janice Tjen or Gabriella Da Silva Fick and Alexandra Osborne.

Nadezhda and Makoto won their 11th victory in their 13th joint fight since July 2025. The Ukrainian and Japanese set out for their third WTA 250 trophy; They became champions in Hamburg and Prague last summer.

Ukrainian tennis player Yulia Starodubtseva (WTA 111) has made a successful start to the 2026 Australian Open qualifiers.

In the first round of the selection, the Ukrainian player beat the French representative in three sets Alice Tubello (WTA 431) in 1 hour 52 minutes.

Australian Open 2026. Qualification

Yulia Starodubtseva (Ukrainian) [6] – Alice Tubello (France) – 6:2, 3:6, 6:0

This was the first head-to-head meeting between the rivals.

Julia’s next opponent will be Despina Papamikhail (Greece, WTA 157), who beat Sasha Vickery at the beginning of the selection.

Starodubtseva is performing on the courts of Melbourne for the third time in her career. In 2024, she passed the qualifications, losing to Ons Jabeur in the 1/64 final, and last season, she immediately entered the top 11, losing to Leila Fernandez.

In the Aus Open 2026 qualifiers, Ukraine will be represented by Starodubtseva, as well as Daria Snigur, Angelina Kalinina and Vitaly Sachko. They will hold their first meeting on the night of January 13.