17-year-old Kazakh tennis player storms into Australian Open round of 16
Kazakhstan's Zangar Nurlanuly, 17, continues his impressive run in the junior draw of the Australian Open 2026, Qazinform News Agency reports.
Nurlanuly opened his campaign with a convincing win, easing past Thailand’s Kunanan Pantaratorn, ranked 1,785 in the ATP singles rankings. The Kazakh player sealed the match in straight sets, 6–2, 6–1.
The Kazakh table tennis player faced a tough test in the second round against Australia’s Taiki Takizawa. Despite having no ATP ranking, the home player pushed the match to three sets, with the Kazakh eventually prevailing 7–5, 1–6, 6–3 after one hour and fourty minutes.
In the round of 16, Zangar Nurlanuly will face neutral athlete Savva Rybkin, a 16-year-old ranked 2,195 in the ATP singles rankings.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Elena Rybakina continues her singles campaign at the Australian Open.