The 2026 Australian Open has already delivered blistering heat, long rallies, upsets, comebacks – and now, one of the most unexpected, hilarious moments of the tournament. And it didn’t even involve a racket or a racket smash. Instead, it came down to something as simple as a shoelace.

In the middle of her first qualifier match at the 2026 AO against Miriam Bianca Bulgaru (ROM), 30-year-old German player Tamara Korpatsch suddenly stopped, glanced down at her foot, and realized her shoelace had snapped clean in half. It happened while she went rushing forward to finish a point in an extended rally during this epic encounter. A minor detail to most of us, but a potential disaster for a professional tennis player in the middle of the biggest stage of the season. She didn’t have a spare. What followed might go down as one of the most endearing and oddly comedic scenes in recent Australian Open memory.

As Korpatsch looked toward her team box with a mix of frustration and disbelief, her father and longtime coach, Thomas Korpatsch, sprang into action like a pit-stop mechanic at the F1 paddock. Except instead of tires and wrenches, we’re talking about shoelaces. One of her teammates calmly removed one of Thomas’s shoelaces and handed it to his daughter. And Tamara? She tied up her shoe, stepped back onto the court, and kept playing. Now, with two mismatched laces (black and white) and a story she’ll probably tell for the rest of her career.

Thomas, the father-cum-coach, has been by her side since the beginning, be it qualifiers, challengers, breakthroughs, injuries, or now, shoelace emergencies. Tamara has often spoken about how central Thomas has been to her growth as a player. From shaping her technique to guiding her match strategy, he is the steadying presence on her team. Her brothers, Tom and Richie, often serve as hitting partners, making tennis truly a family project.

Korpatsch made her WTA Tour debut at the 2016 Swiss Open in the doubles draw. So far, she has won 1 singles title in her career and reached a career-high ranking of 71 on 23 October 2023. Currently ranked 124th in the world, the German defeated Bulgaru (197) by 6-4, 6(7)-7, 6-2 in the first qualifier. Next up for her is Italy’s Silvia Ambrosio.

The 2026 Australian Open qualifiers are catching a lot of attention this year, far more than anyone anticipated. Here’s an interesting stat related to it…

Record-breaking first day of the Australian Open

On one side, we saw America’s Sloane Stephens snapping her 13-match losing streak by beating Barbora Palicova in the Australian Open qualifying first round. Finally, something to cheer for the former Grand Slam champion! But then on the other side, ex-British number one Dan Evans got knocked out of the qualifiers following a first-round defeat to Japan’s Rei Sakamoto. So, a lot of things are happening at the moment altogether in Melbourne already.

Amid all these, the 2026 AO started with a bang in terms of numbers, with a record attendance on the first day itself. A total of 29,261 people came to Melbourne Park to watch the qualifying round on the first day of the Australian Open. Guess what? It has hence surpassed the previous highest-ever Day 1 qualifying crowd record of 7,543. Great start to the 3-week event!

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Around 1.1 million fans attended the AO main draw last year, while 116,528 fans attended the opening week. But the tournament expects close to 300,000 fans for its opening week this year, as it has put an emphasis on additional attractions intended to draw additional spectators.

As per Tennis Australia’s chief executive, Craig Tiley’s statement, “Our objective is we want to own January. We’re intense, and we’re intense because we’re 21 days, every day.” Talking about the response that they got on the first day of the 2026 Australian Open, he added, “It doesn’t feel like it’s the first day of qualifiers; it feels in many ways like it’s the first day of the event. But this is the first day of 21 days of activity, entertainment, and sport.” Are you following the exciting qualifying rounds of the 2026 AO?