Starting on Sunday, January 18, the big tennis season begins again. Here’s everything you need to know about the first Grand Slam of the season.
New year, new Australian Open. As usual, the Happy Slam will open the big tennis season. The appeal of the Melbourne tournament, which has grown in recent decades, is mainly due to its ability to provide early indications of how the following months will unfold. In the past, even a few weeks’ break was enough to overturn some balances that seemed set in stone. Great comebacks, surprise crashes, and absolute revelations: this and more have been the Australian Open in the recent past. This year, however, there do not seem to be any big surprises in store. We start from last season’s status quo: Alcaraz number 1, Sinner number 2, and then everyone else, who are playing in a different league. In the women’s competition, the defending champion is Madison Keys, but the favorite is the usual Sabalenka.
There will be 10 Italians competing in the men’s tournament, with only Francesco Maestrelli making it through the qualifiers. Cobolli and Berrettini are at the top of the draw, in the same quarter as number 1 Carlos Alcaraz. Flavio has an easier start, facing English qualifier Arthur Fery, while Matteo will face home favorite Alex de Minaur. In the second quarter, featuring Zverev, Medvedev, and Auger-Aliassime, Arnaldi faces another tough challenge against Rublev. The bottom half of the draw features Jannik Sinner, who will make his debut on Tuesday against Hugo Gaston. The first complicated challenge could come in the third round, with Joao Fonseca a possibility, while the most likely eighth seed is Karen Khachanov, the highest seed in a section of the draw that also features Luciano Darderi. Sinner’s hypothetical path could continue in the quarterfinals, with either Shelton or Ruud, while his opponent in the semifinals will come from the third quarter of the draw, where Djokovic is the favorite, but Musetti is also among the candidates to reach the final. Lorenzo will make his debut against Belgian Raphaël Collignon and could face Sonego in an all-Italian derby in the second round.
The women’s draw— The top half of the women’s draw features Aryna Sabalenka, chasing her fourth consecutive final in Australia. Joining her will be Jasmine Paolini (in the same quarter) and Coco Gauff. The Italian will begin her campaign against qualifier Aljaksandra Sasnovič. If she wins, she could face either Erajvec or Frech in the second round, and on paper, the third round could see her face 18-year-old American Iva Jovic, already ranked 30th in the world. The round of 16 could be tricky, with a possible match against either Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk or Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, fresh off her best season yet. The journey would continue against Sabalenka and then against either Gauff or Andreeva. In the lower half of the draw, alongside Iga Swiatek, is the only other Italian player, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, who will make her debut against Australia’s Julia Grabher. In the third round, she could face the world number 2.
The schedule— The first rounds will begin on Sunday night, January 18. Jasmine Paolini will open the proceedings at Rod Laver Arena (at 1:30 a.m. Italian time), followed by Alexander Zverev. In the evening session, starting at 9 p.m. Italian time, the two world number ones will take to the court, first Aryna Sabalenka and then Carlos Alcaraz. It will also be the night of Flavio Cobolli and Venus Williams, among others, in her 22nd Australian Open appearance. The first rounds will then continue over the next two days. Defending champion Sinner, as mentioned, will make his debut on Tuesday. Below is the schedule, with the daily division and respective rounds, of the tournament until the final:
- 1st round: January 18–20
- 2nd round: January 21–22
- 3rd round: January 23–24
- 4th round: January 25–26
- Quarterfinals: January 27–28
- Women’s semifinals: January 29
- Men’s semifinals: January 30
- Women’s final: January 31
- Men’s final: February 1
Where to watch it— As usual, the Australian Open will be broadcast on Eurosport, available on Dazn. Only Discovery+ and HBO Max, which recently launched in Italy, will broadcast all the tournament’s matches.
Prize money— For the 2026 edition, the total prize money will be a record $111.5 million Australian dollars, just over €64 million, which is $20 million more than the total prize money for 2025. The prize money for players will increase at every level of the competition: the winners will receive 2.39 million euros, an increase of 19% (2.1 million in 2025), and the finalists will receive 1.24 million euros (+13% compared to 2025), but that’s not all. The prize money for those participating in the qualifiers will increase by 16%, while for players in the main draw, the increases will be between 13% and 14%.
