From Carlos Alcaraz to Jannik Sinner, and Aryna Sabalenka to Coco Gauff, the world’s high tennis gamers have arrived Down Underneath because the yr’s first Grand Slam will get underneath method in Melbourne this week.
The well-known blue laborious courts will see all-time nice Novak Djokovic proceed his seek for a record-extending eleventh Australian Open and twenty fifth Grand Slam title amid the modern-day rivalry between defending champion Sinner and world primary Alcaraz.
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Within the ladies’s draw, Sabalenka will as soon as once more try to win her third Australian Open title however will face a tricky problem from Iga Swiatek, Gauff and Amanda Anisimova.
And 1000’s of followers will courageous the Australian summer season to catch the largest stars of the sport in motion.
Right here’s all it is advisable know concerning the Australian Open 2026:
When does the Australian Open 2026 essential spherical begin, and when are the finals?
The primary spherical of males’s and ladies’s singles matches begins on Sunday, January 18.
The ladies’s singles closing shall be performed on the Rod Laver Enviornment on Saturday, January 31, and the lads’s singles closing shall be performed on the identical venue a day later.
The place is the Australian Open performed?
The primary Slam of the yr is performed on the laborious courtroom venues situated at Melbourne Park. Aside from the Rod Laver Enviornment, the opposite essential courts are the Margaret Courtroom Enviornment and John Cain Enviornment.
Who’re the Australian Open defending champions?
Madison Keys shocked two-time champion Sabalenka to win her first Slam within the 2025 closing in three units.
Within the males’s closing, it was a Jannik Sinner masterclass because the Italian overcame Germany’s Alexander Zverev in straight units for his second Australian Open title.
Will Djokovic play within the Australian Open 2026?
The Serb pulled out of the Adelaide Open, which is seen as a warm-up occasion for the Australian Open, saying he wasn’t “bodily prepared” for the match.
Whereas the tennis nice didn’t reveal whether or not it was an damage or just a have to relaxation his physique earlier than the Slam, he did affirm his plans to reach in Melbourne forward of the primary spherical and has been named within the match’s draw.
Who’re the favourites to win the Australian Open 2026?
An thrilling mixture of former champions and present top-ranked gamers depend among the many favourites to elevate the title on the finish of two weeks.
Carlos Alcaraz: The world primary has not performed a aggressive match for the reason that ATP Finals towards Sinner in Turin, Italy, the place he misplaced to the house favorite in straight units. Nonetheless, he ended 2025 on high of the ATP rankings after racking up wins on the end-of-year hard-court tournaments. The Australian Open is the one Grand Slam title to have eluded him, and top-seeded Alcaraz shall be desirous to set that report straight at the start of the brand new tennis season.
Jannik Sinner: After dropping the US Open closing to Alcaraz, Sinner went on to win 4 of the 5 ATP tournaments he performed, together with the ATP Finals at house. The defending champion shall be trying to full a “three-peat” on the solely Grand Slam he’s gained greater than as soon as.
Daniil Medvedev: The previous US Open champion endured a topsy-turvy season in 2025. Whereas he has not appeared in a Grand Slam closing for the reason that 2024 Australian Open, the Russian started the present season with a press release win on the Brisbane Worldwide. Regardless of dropping out of the highest 10, along with his present ATP rating of 12, Medvedev shall be one of many darkish horses in Melbourne.
Aryna Sabalenka: Regardless of spending most of 2025 on high of the ladies’s rankings and getting into three Grand Slam finals, Sabalenka was in a position to win solely the US Open title to finish her yr on a excessive. The Belarusian has developed her sport from hard-court experience to progress additional on grass and clay. She is going to relish the chance to win her third Australian Open title after lacking out final yr. Sabalenka enters the match as the highest seed, after successful the Brisbane title with out dropping a set.
Iga Swiatek: The unassuming Polish participant has gained essentially the most ladies’s singles Grand Slam titles (6) among the many present crop of high WTA gamers however she has but to get her fingers on an Australian Open trophy. Swiatek skilled combined outcomes at majors in 2025 however tasted success at Wimbledon in a near-faultless closing. The 24-year-old started the yr with a United Cup crew win for Poland towards Switzerland and arrives at Melbourne ranked second.
Amanda Anisimova: Whereas Anisimova misplaced each Grand Slam finals – Wimbledon and US Open – that she entered final yr, the American has swiftly climbed again into the WTA rankings since making her return to the sport in 2024 after stepping away briefly in 2023, citing psychological well being issues. At present ranked fourth on the earth, the 24-year-old has proven the flexibility to knock out high seeds in main tournaments and shall be one to observe within the ladies’s draw.
Who’re the highest seeds?
Males’s:
- Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
- Jannik Sinner (Italy)
- Alexander Zverev (Germany)
- Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
- Lorenzo Musetti (Italy)
- Alex de Minaur (Australia)
- Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada)
- Ben Shelton (USA)
- Taylor Fritz (USA)
- Alexander Bublik (Kazakhstan)
Ladies’s:
- Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus)
- Iga Swiatek (Poland)
- Coco Gauff (USA)
- Amanda Anisimova (USA)
- Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
- Jessica Pegula (USA)
- Jasmine Paolini (Italy)
- Mirra Andreeva (Russia)
- Madison Keys (USA)
- Belinda Bencic (Switzerland)
Can there be Sinner vs Alcaraz, and Sabalenka vs Gauff finals?
The highest two seeds are positioned in reverse halves of the lads’s singles draw and might meet within the closing, ought to they qualify.
Djokovic and Sinner are in the identical half and shall be on a collision course to satisfy within the semifinals, whereas Alcaraz may meet final yr’s runner-up, Zverev, in his semifinal.
Within the ladies’s draw, a closing assembly between Sabalenka and Swiatek may materialise. Swiatek may meet Anisimova within the semis, whereas Gauff is in Sabalenka’s half of the draw and the pair may meet within the semifinals.
Has Venus Williams certified for the Australian Open 2026?
Williams was given a wild-card entry for the Australian Open, and can play on the match for the primary time in 5 years.
The 45-year-old will develop into the oldest lady to compete in an Australian Open essential draw and may meet Gauff within the second spherical of the Australian Open, greater than six years after they first performed one another in a significant.
Gauff was 15 when she beat the seven-time main winner within the first spherical at Wimbledon in 2019 in her Grand Slam debut.
Why is Roger Federer on the Australian Open 2026?
Federer will headline the “Battle of the World No 1s” exhibition occasion that serves because the launching occasion for the Grand Slam.
The Swiss nice shall be again on Rod Laver Enviornment for the primary time since he retired in 2022 because the Grand Slam at Melbourne Park introduces an inaugural “opening ceremony”.
Held on the night earlier than the match begins on January 18, it would embody a tribute to Federer, who gained the Norman Brookes trophy six instances amongst his 20 main titles.
He may even be part of four-time Australian Open winner Andre Agassi and Australians Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt for a star-studded match.
purchase tickets for the Australian Open 2026?
Tickets are up for grabs on the match’s official web site.
How a lot is the prize cash for the Australian Open 2026?
The entire prize cash on supply shall be $74.9m, whereas the lads’s and ladies’s singles champions will obtain $2.79m every.
observe and livestream the Australian Open 2026?
The match shall be proven by native and terrestrial broadcasters, in addition to digital streaming companies across the globe.
Al Jazeera Sport will cowl the lads’s and ladies’s singles finals through reside textual content and picture commentary.
