2026 AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 3: Shocking Wins, Favorites Advance & Shelton on College Players Shaking it Up Down Under

Summary

Served with Andy Roddick – 2026 AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 3: Shocking Wins, Favorites Advance & Shelton on College Players Shaking it Up Down Under

Date: January 20, 2026
Host: Andy Roddick (off-air, referenced), co-hosts Joe and Ben
Guest Analyst: Audio snippet from Ben Shelton, American pro

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Episode Overview

The episode dissects Day 3 of the 2026 Australian Open, highlighting a series of surprising outcomes, strong showings by tournament favorites, and especially the surge of American and college-trained players making an impact in Melbourne. The hosts offer candid reactions to match results, share anecdotes from tennis lore, and dive deep into the transformation of college tennis as a launchpad for successful pro careers.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Women's Draw: Noteworthy Results and Quirky Moments

• Naomi Osaka survives a tight match:

  • Osaka wins 6-4 in the third set.
  • Discussion of her “jellyfish-inspired” outfit, complete with a butterfly motif and a veil.

    "She was, like, draped in it. She was, like, draped in, like, this veil. It had a butterfly on it because the butterfly landed on her face." – Ben (00:56)

• Other women’s results:

  • Madison Keys advances, "kind of getting the nerves out a little bit."
  • Belinda Bencic and Elena Rybakina advance smoothly.
  • Upsets: Maia Joint and Daria Kasatkina (now an Aussie by citizenship) lose early; Layla Fernandez loses to the notorious “seed killer” Laura Siegemund.

    "It's tough playing in front of the home crowd." – Joe (01:26)

• Bracket carnage:

  • Multiple upsets make predictions tough: "Bracket didn't go that well today. Could be worse." – Joe (02:16)

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2. Men's Draw: Americans Rising, Shocks and Endurance

• Strong American performances:

  • Ethan Quinn upsets Tallon Griekspoor impressively.
  • Taylor Fritz moves on, Ben Shelton survives a tough opener against Ugo Humbert.
  • Spaziri, another college product, earns a win over Fonseca.

    "The American—We're good at tennis right now. Like we're really good at tennis." – Joe (03:03)

• Key results and marathon matches:

  • Sinner's opponent retires, making for easy passage.

  • Stefanos Tsitsipas gets a much-needed win.

  • Karen Khachanov survives a five-set struggle against Alex Michelsen:

    "Hatching off is one of those guys that gets better with the longer format." – Joe (02:56)

  • Gael Monfils falls to wild card Dane Sweeney after a near four-hour match. The hosts reflect on Monfils' future:

    "You know, you get to a certain age and you're going, is this the last time we see him?" – Joe (03:33)

  • Ben Shelton edges through a “rough first round draw” against Ugo Humbert:

    "That was a rough first round draw. Like Ben getting through that. A nice like 3, 6 and 6. Kind of get the nerves going a little bit. I like that result a lot." – Joe (04:05)

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3. American College Tennis: The New Talent Pipeline

• Rise of college players:

  • Ben Shelton discusses college tennis grit:

    "College players are dogs for the most part. You know, I don't feel like there's that many college players who come on tour and make it and are soft. I think you gotta get used to dealing with a lot when you're in college." – Ben Shelton (05:53)

  • The stat: 34 college-trained Americans (men and women) in this year’s Australian Open draw — up from 10 a decade ago (06:30–06:48).

  • Hosts marvel at the shift:

    "If we rewind to like middle 2000s...You’d have these guys that would come in, like, win NCAAs...and you’re like, oh, that guy’s not going to make it at all. That is not the case now." – Joe (07:14)

• Not just Americans:

  • NCAA tennis is “now world player development for tennis”:

    "American and foreign at NCAA tennis players at large public universities. Men, women are combined in total 1,063 roster spots. 708 are held by foreign players. The NCAA is now world player development for tennis." – Joe (10:56)

• Shift in player development:

  • The college system now develops players who can compete and win early rounds at Slams.
  • Examples abound: "Ethan Quinn, Spaziri, Zhang. Like Shelton. It’s nonstop." – Joe (13:28)

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4. NIL and Prize Money Complications

• NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals vs. prize money:

  • Athletes can earn lucrative NIL deals but can’t accept official prize money without risking college eligibility.
  • Hosts lament the “ridiculousness” of this NCAA rule:

    "How stupid is it that you can take NIL money but not take prize money that you’ve earned?" – Joe (09:15)

• Real-world examples and loopholes:

  • Female college player with 2M TikTok followers valued at over $600k in sponsorships—but limitations still abound (09:34–10:12).
  • Gear sponsorships complicated by school contracts (Nike vs. Fila, etc.)

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5. The Changing Age and Pathways of Tennis Pros

• Longer careers, more options:

  • Now, missing “the first four years” isn’t a death knell; players compete professionally into their mid-30s.
  • NCAA offers a viable, sustainable alternate route outside the main Federation pipeline.

• The shift from outlier to norm:

  • Once, college was a backup for those not expected to reach the very top; now, it’s producing Masters winners and top-10 threats.

    "It used to be like, if you were going to college then it almost meant that, like, I don't know, I associate it with you being like 70, 80, 90 in the world, max. And now it's like, no, these, these guys are all going to be...Vachero is winning Master Series events." – Joe (12:39)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Jellyfish Fashion:

  "She was, like, draped in it. She was, like, draped in, like, this veil. It had a butterfly on it because the butterfly landed on her face." – Ben (00:56)

• On America’s tennis strength:

  "We're good at tennis right now. Like we're really good at tennis." – Joe (03:03)

• On the new college tennis pipeline:

  "Find me a better system than college tennis right now to produce players." – Joe (07:18)

• On prize money vs. NIL:

  "How stupid is it that you can take NIL money but not take prize money that you’ve earned?" – Joe (09:15)
  "It's so ridiculous." – Ben (09:24)

• On Monfils’ future:

  "You know, you get to a certain age and you're going, is this the last time we see him?" – Joe (03:33)

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Timestamps for Reference Segments

• Osaka match and jellyfish outfit: 00:48–01:23
• Women’s results, upsets: 01:26–02:16
• Marquee men’s matches and American results: 02:24–04:47
• College tennis segment starts (with Shelton quote): 05:43–07:51
• Stats: college players in main draw: 06:42–06:48
• NIL/prize money discussion: 09:09–10:56
• Globalization of NCAA tennis: 10:56–11:18
• Changing career trajectories and college’s new role: 12:18–13:07

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Conclusion

The episode offers a lively, insightful take on Day 3 of the Australian Open, blending match analysis with an in-depth discussion of how American (and now global) college tennis has become a driving force for professional success in the sport. The hosts’ mix of humor, personal anecdotes, and clear admiration for the current crop of young players—especially those with collegiate backgrounds—underscores the magnitude of the sport’s recent evolution.

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For fans and newcomers alike, this episode captures both the drama of the 2026 Australian Open and the behind-the-scenes realities reshaping the professional tennis landscape.

Transcript

[Joe]

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[Ben]

Did you see her outfit?

[Joe]

I didn't, no.

[Ben]

It's jellyfish inspired. Pretty cool.

[Joe]

What's. How does that even mean? What's the jellyfish inspired?

[Ben]

Well, it's just.

[Joe]

You didn't see it.

[Ben]

She was, like, draped in it. She was, like, draped in, like, this veil. It had a butterfly on it because the butterfly landed on her face. Sean just told me about it.

[Joe]

Imagine. Imagine not having seen it and then having hearing what you just said to me. Repeat what you just said to me.

[Ben]

I just know people heard a veil.

[Joe]

And it was inspired by a jellyfish.

[Ben]

She had, like, a thing. Yeah. And she said it was inspired by a jellyfish. It's probably on screen.

[Joe]

How do you get, like, the only thing I see, like, when I see a jellyfish, I'm like, just don't step on it. Like, how are you inspired by one?

[Ben]

Because it's strong but fluid. Okay.

[Joe]

Madison Keys, one. Also not easy. Only time is defending champion. Kind of getting the nerves out a little bit. Belinda Bench. It's still rolling. Rabakina rolling. Maya Joint, who is a good Australian player, and Kazakina Newly Australian, having converted her citizenship from Russia. Both go down. It is tough playing in front of the home crowd in a battle of, like, top three players from 2017. Pliskova takes down Sloan Stevens, but credit to Sloan for qualifying. Be fun if Plischkova kind of reentered the conversation. That'd be nice. That'd be nice. The seed killer from the Slams last couple of years, Laura Sigmund, is just chopping fools.

[Ben]

Yeah, Sam.

[Joe]

Son of a. This time, Layla Fernandez goes down to.

[Ben]

Jen Evely loses in three sets. Yeah, see that one coming.

[Joe]

That's a tough one. Bracket didn't go that well today. Could be worse. It could be techie. Sean, should we get to it, Joe?

[Ben]

Ow.

[Joe]

No, we don't need to talk about it. We're going to talk about it. Obviously we're going to talk about it. On the men's side, Ethan Quinn takes out Greek Spore. Vachero was through yesterday. Sinner got a little batting practice, winning a couple of sets. And then Gaston said, that's it. I've had enough of this year. Sitzipas gets a win, which was needed. Musetti wins in four. Hatchinov beats Mikkelsen in five. We knew that was a coin flip one way or the other. Mickelson is really good. Hatching off is one of those guys that gets better with the longer format.

[Ben]

Okay.

[Joe]

Which is why I should have taken him in my bracket, but I didn't. Maybe a little home cook in there. Yeah, save your comments.

[Ben]

You choose the American.

[Joe]

Yeah, no, we're good. The American. We're good at tennis right now. Like we're really good at tennis.

[Ben]

Pretty good.

[Joe]

That's why they're pretty good. Pretty good. Taylor Fritz gets through. Mahach rolled Grigor.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Not easy. Mumfis goes down to a wild card. Sweeney, you hope this isn't kind of. Mumfis doesn't lose a lot of like battles of attrition to players. Like a nearly four hour match rank like one, whatever.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Hopefully he is able to turn it around. Hopefully we'll see him in Australia again. You know, you get to a certain age and you're going, is this the last time we see him? We don't know.

[Ben]

I think he said this is. This is it. But who knows? It's. Sometimes you lose in the first round.

[Joe]

Maybe not most like liked guy on tour. Gail says a lot of things.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Pure entertainment.

[Ben]

I mean his wife's going to keep playing, so if he's there, if he's there, he's like, maybe I'll give a shot.

[Joe]

It's. It's actually kind of funny. It's true. Like she's away anyways. I might as well go and yeah, cash a check.

[Ben]

It's not like he's going to get like fat and lazy. The dude's in great shape all the time.

[Joe]

He's like been skinny forever. He can dodge raindrops no problem. And then the ups. A big like shot across the bout of a. Shelton gets through. And against Uber, which I was. That was a rough first round draw. Like Ben getting through that. A nice like 3, 6 and 6. Kind of get the nerves going a little bit. I like that result a lot. Ethan Quinn on Greek sport, like 2, 2 and 3 or whatever.

[Ben]

It Was that was American college tennis.

[Joe]

Hubie Herkotch gets through against Bergs. I took the other side of that one. I'm always like, I'm so happy to be wrong. If it's someone like a hubie. It just works hard. Professional has been a really good player. Top 10 guy for a lot. Like, good. I'm happy he's healthy. I'm happy he's playing well. I took Pechy Pericard. Baez beats him in five. Lost a couple of five setters, guys. Baez is playing great. Chop some people last week in Auckland. Menshik gets through in a tough one and then Spaziri takes out Fonseca.

[Ben]

I had to google him.

[Joe]

No, he's from University of Texas. Won a match last year at the US Open. But I mean, if we're looking at this, I mean you have some sound from. Yeah is delivery of the day.

[Ben]

It's the perfect delivery. And it also translates into our.

[Joe]

It's definitely not the delivery of the day.

[Ben]

It'll be the perfect delivery of the day. If you'd like to sponsor it into the mike at Servemedia. Do you.

[Joe]

Do you have a cricket sound, Sean? Insert edit. There you go.

[Ben]

But it'll, it'll also be. It'll also go into our. Our stat of the day.

[Joe]

Shameless. Let's hear it.

[Ben]

Sponsored by ServiceNow. But here, check out this sound from Ben Sheldon. Are there any common qualities that you think college players have?

[Guest Analyst]

Yeah, I think, I think college players generalization. I think college players are dogs for the most part. You know, I don't, I don't feel like there's that many college players who come on tour and make it and are soft. I think you got to get used to dealing with a lot when you're in college. Not everything is catered to you. Being a professional tennis player is a very self centered.

[Ben]

Job.

[Guest Analyst]

Everything is catered to you. What your team does for you. They have all these people trying to make your life easier and you can kind of lose sight of life, I guess.

[Ben]

Yeah. So. So Sheldon was answering a question from, from a reporter that was saying, hey, in this year's draw, there are 34American college players. Just a decade ago, there was 10. Yeah.

[Joe]

Total. No, not just American total. There's not 34.

[Ben]

34American collegiate players, men and women. Yes.

[Joe]

Yeah, sorry, I was thinking, I was thinking on the men's side. No, sorry.

[Ben]

American collegiate. But they're not American players.

[Joe]

Yeah. You know who else is a dog?

[Ben]

Who?

[Joe]

Carlos Alcaraz. You know who else is A dog.

[Ben]

Well, I mean, all right, so. But like, hey, I mean, you have, you have these guys. You have these guys.

[Joe]

So I. But. But it's, it's just giving Ben shit. Which is, which is, which is fun. He has a. He can take it.

[Ben]

He's.

[Joe]

He's got a good attitude about it. But to his point, like, if we rewind to like middle 2000s and we would have guys come from college as practice partners on our Davis cup team, a lot of them couldn't play at all. I'm just going to lay it out there. You'd have these guys that would come in like, win NCAs and come. And you're like, oh, that guy's not going to make it at all. That is not the case now. Like, it is. Find me a better system than college tennis right now to produce players.

[Ben]

I know, and it's one of the biggest underdog stories of all. Last year, right, was Vacherow, Texas A and M guy. But you're like, at some point you're gonna be like, I mean, are these guys not underdogs or they're just dudes that went to college?

[Joe]

Yeah, but like, think about the college. It's like, okay, you're from. Now I named like the, the blue chip prospects in my response to Ben just to be a smartass, but like, if you're not totally, like the guys that are 17 years old and that are the blue chip number one draft picks, they go and, you know, you know who those. Those guys are. It's the. Carlos is the sinners. It's the, you know, the fun secas. And he was thinking about going to Virginia, too. It used to be on kind of the federations and you know, the player development to create these players and put a lot of money in. Let's punt that bill to someone else now in the colleges and you go to places that have great facilities, like I do at an event at like randomly smu and I don't know a lot of college tenant facilities. That's not something that's in my ether. But I went to smu. Smu. It's like better than most tour events. It's absurd. And I'm assuming that's everywhere because it's like, you know, they're not the monster of all monsters in tennis. But yeah, man, like, you look at someone coming out of college and then taking out a seed.

[Ben]

Zhang.

[Joe]

We talk about Zhang. Like, this kid's still in college. He's actively enrolled in college.

[Ben]

He's going Columbia too.

[Joe]

He's Going back to school from Australia. Like, can't take the prize money. By the way, how stupid is it that you can take nil money but not take prize money that you've earned?

[Ben]

It's so ridiculous.

[Joe]

It's so stupid.

[Ben]

It's so ridiculous. And at some point the tournament should stand up for that against the ncaa.

[Joe]

I don't know if they can though. Like, NCAA doesn't give a. About the Australian Open.

[Ben]

Well, we were. We were looking into this some and I think nil is this. Is this really crazy space that exists right now. But I think there is a misconception when you see a player's, you know, the Internet's nil value. There's a company called ON three that does valuations and there's. There's a player, a. A woman that's going to. To unc, to University of North Carolina in a fray. And she got kind of famous online for, for kind of being Brock Purdy's doppelganger. Went to ESPN, went to the ESPN awards and stuff like that. But she has 2 million TikTok followers, you know, tons of followers. Yeah, she has tons of followers on. On Instagram, over 830,000 on Instagram.

[Joe]

The whole world out there of the Internet.

[Ben]

But. But her value is. But is ranging between $631,000 and $800,000. And it's not the school that's paying that nil money. They. They do have to foot the bill a little bit. But it's coming from corporate brand sponsors, it's coming from Fela, it's coming from head, it's coming from nerds. Yeah, but you can American Eagle.

[Joe]

But if your school is like, like UNC is a Nike Jordan brand school. You can't wear Fila during the matches.

[Ben]

But she can post it in her streetwear. But she can pick her own. It'd be like she can pick her own racket. She can play whatever she wants.

[Joe]

Yeah, that's different because there's not a racket sponsor for.

[Ben]

But it is interesting. Any other sport, if you think about it like, you can't. The quarterback can't choose his own football and they have to wear this cleats that are given to them.

[Joe]

How's this? By the numbers. American and foreign at NCAA tennis players at large public universities. Men, women are combined in total 1,063 roster spots. 708 are held by foreign players. The NCAA is now world player development for tennis. For tennis.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Yep. That's it. That's it. There's nothing else like, unless you're one of these blue chip prospects. It's in. Everyone's playing longer. It used to feel like if you missed the first four years of your career till you were 22, it's like everyone was retiring at 28 or 30 and everyone plays till 36 now. Like, there's time. It's completely, maybe an undertold story. I mean, maybe, maybe not. But, like, it's complete. Like, has tennis nil. Has it transformed tennis as much as any other sport? Like, tennis needs it now more than it's ever needed it and it needed it like, 020 years ago. Yeah, I don't know. Like it would. Someone would win NCAs and you'd be like, I don't know if they can play at all. And now it's like, guys were like 20 in the country and NCAs are like, oh, yeah, they qualify and win a spazer. You went and what'd you say? Qualified at Auckland. Made the quarters.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Like they're playing every week.

[Ben]

They're playing every week.

[Joe]

Like you, you have. The last four of NCAs are like the top. If you're one of the top 10 players, you're going to make a living. It used to be like one. Unbelievable. I think it's, I'm, I'm like so impressed. It makes so much sense and it's also so crazy to me because it's, it's, it's turned so quickly. Like there were, there were exceptions, there were Isners and there were, you know, James Blakes and, you know there were. But from like when Mack went to Stanford and then Fast forward, like 25, 30 years, it was a light brush. You had Lisa Raymond, who was fantastic, but it wasn't as if. It was like, if you were going to college then it almost meant that, like, I don't know, I associate it with you being like 70, 80, 90 in the world, max. And now it's like, no, these, these guys are all going to be. I mean, Vachero is winning Master Series events.

[Ben]

I mean, we asked Tiafo about it, I asked Teofo about it. I'm like, oh, would you think differently about going to school or not? And he's like, no. But I, Even in that short period of time, he's a young guy. In that short period of time, I think that, I think that's changed because the, the cost of getting to. The ability to then be in places like a Masters 1000 at age 24 is, is a bit prohibitive.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Ben]

If you don't have the full backing of A of a well funded federation.

[Joe]

It also matters like Isner, you know, was tall and you know, he'll tell you he needed time to develop his. I mean you can't be 7 foot 1 when you're 17 and not be like a little goofy, right? Like, he needed time to actually go. And so people progress at different rates. It's not a rush. Now, like you can go and actually develop. Like Vachero has been out of school for who knows how long. But I mean, I'm just looking at these results and it's like college kid, college kid. Ethan Quinn, Spaziri Zhang. Like Shelton. It's nonstop. Shelton goes and wins and you're like, oh, that guy's going to be a top five guy. That was not the case, you know, so I don't know what else we got. Mike.

[Ben]

That's it. That's it. That's all I got.

[Joe]

Oh my God. I thought you were going to like delivery of the day.

[Ben]

No, I thought this stuff was great. You know, I think Sinner rolled. He had a guy retire and then I think looking ahead, you know, what are you excited about?

[Joe]

Well, you know, you know who. You know what Spazzeri didn't see? Still some work to be done, right? But you know what he didn't see at the University of Texas?

[Ben]

Who?

[Joe]

Fucking Sinner.

[Ben]

Well, he's got to get through next round.

[Joe]

Thanks for watching. Quick Serve presented by Service Now. We'll see you tomorrow.