Belinda Bencic came into the Australian Open unbeaten in 2026, riding a six-match winning streak and looking every bit like a title contender. But her Melbourne run came to a shocking end in the second round, as the tenth seed struggled through an erratic performance and fell 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 to world No. 126 Nikola Bartůňková.

On the other side of the net, the 19-year-old qualifier delivered the performance of her young career. Overcome with emotion, the teenager bowed down to the court and repeatedly slapped the surface in pure joy.

“Wow. That’s the biggest upset of the tournament so far,” wrote veteran tennis journalist José Morgado.

Playing her first-ever Grand Slam main draw, Bartůňková outplayed Bencic in the opening set, then showed impressive composure after getting bageled in the second.

She regrouped beautifully to edge a wildly swinging final set, one that saw five breaks of serve, sealing a stunning win and announcing herself on the big stage.

Still trying to process it all, Bartůňková could hardly hide her excitement afterwards. “It’s a dream come true, because it was an unbelievable match from me,” she said, smiling after what was easily the most memorable win of her young career.

The Australian Open social media team summed it up perfectly. “BARTUNKOVA BOILOVER ‼️” read the caption on a post sharing the moment Nikola Bartůňková dropped to her knees after sealing the biggest win of her life.

Nikola Bartůňková’s rise over the past year has been nothing short of remarkable. Once a Top 10 junior, she has climbed from No. 537 to No. 126 in the rankings in just 12 months. Before last week, she had never even played a Grand Slam qualifying event, and Belinda Bencic was the first Top 20 player she had ever faced.

But Bartůňková had already turned heads in the first round with a statement 7-6(7), 0-6, 6-3 upset of Daria Kasatkina (a former Top 10 player), winning in front of Kasatkina’s home crowd. And over 2 hours and 12 minutes on ANZ Arena, she proved that the breakthrough was no fluke.

Now, the 19-year-old will try to keep her dream debut alive against No. 21 seed Elise Mertens, who advanced after beating Moyuka Uchijima 6-3, 6-1.

How Belinda Bencic’s young opponent keeps rivals guessing

“My tennis is unpredictable,” Nikola Bartůňková said last year after reaching her first WTA semifinal in Guadalajara. “I hit something different each time so rivals don’t know what ball is coming.” Later, when asked where that variety comes from, Bartůňková didn’t hesitate.

“Federer style, Alcaraz style,” she explained. “All the more aggressive players, that’s my inspiration since I was a kid. I like playing the volleys, the drop shots, everything, because I know that opponents don’t like it much. So that’s why I play it!”

What made her performance even more impressive was how often she produced her best shots under pressure. Sharp volleying helped her break for 4-2 in the first set, and a stunning backhand down the line earned her first set point. Later, serving at 3-2 in the third and facing two break points, she found a service winner and then ripped a forehand down the line from a tough position.

After holding for 3-3, she earned another break point by pulling Bencic into a series of slices, then finished it with a daring, Federer-like charge to the net off the return.

However, style alone doesn’t win big matches without toughness, and Bartůňková showed plenty of that too. When Bencic broke back to make it 4-4, the teenager responded immediately, firing two clean return winners and another beautiful backhand down the line to swing the momentum right back.

Serving for the match, she stayed brave and creative, even throwing in a perfectly timed drop shot-pass combination to close it out. That said, what are your thoughts on the new hot shot Nikola Bartůňková?