Starting Sunday, January 18, the tennis season kicks off 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 kick off the tennis season. The appeal of the Melbourne tournament, which has grown over the past few decades, stems mainly from its ability to provide early indications of how the coming months will unfold. In the past, even just a few weeks’ break has been enough to upend some balances that seemed set in stone. Major comebacks, surprise crashes, and breakout stars: this and more have defined the Australian Open in recent years. This year, however, there don’t seem to be any major surprises on the horizon. We’re picking up where last season left off: Alcaraz at No. 1, Sinner at No. 2, and then everyone else, who are competing in a different league. In the women’s draw, the defending champion is Madison Keys, but the favorite is the usual suspect, Sabalenka.
On the men’s side, 10 Italians will be in the draw, with only Francesco Maestrelli having made it through qualifying. In the top half of the draw are Cobolli and Berrettini, who find themselves in the same quarter as No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz. Flavio has an easier first-round match, facing British qualifier Arthur Fery, while Matteo will take on home favorite Alex de Minaur. In the second quarter—featuring Zverev, Medvedev, and Auger-Aliassime—Arnaldi is set for another tough match against Rublev. The bottom half of the draw belongs to Jannik Sinner, who will make his debut on Tuesday against Hugo Gaston. His first tough match could come in the third round, potentially against Joao Fonseca, while his most likely quarterfinal opponent is Karen Khachanov, the top seed in a section of the draw that also includes Luciano Darderi. Sinner’s hypothetical path could continue into the quarterfinals against either Shelton or Ruud, while his semifinal opponent would come from the third quarter of the draw—where Djokovic is the favorite, but Musetti is also among the contenders to reach the final. Lorenzo will make his debut against Belgian Raphaël Collignon and could face Sonego in an all-Italian showdown in the second round.
The women’s draw— The top half of the women’s draw features Aryna Sabalenka, who is aiming for 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. A possible second-round match, should she win, would be against either Erajvec or Frech; a third-round matchup on paper would be against the American Iva Jovic, who is 18 years old but already ranked No. 30 in the world. The round of 16 looks tricky, pitting her against either the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk or the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, who is coming off her best season yet. Her path would then continue against Sabalenka and then against either Gauff or Andreeva. In the lower half of the draw, where Iga Swiatek is seeded, the only other Italian in the tournament, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, will make her debut against Australian Julia Grabher. In the third round, she could face the world No. 2 herself.
The Schedule— The first rounds begin on the night of Sunday, the 18th. Jasmine Paolini will kick things off 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 No. 1s will take the court—first Aryna Sabalenka and then Carlos Alcaraz. The night will also feature, among others, Flavio Cobolli and Venus Williams, making her 22nd appearance at the Australian Open. The first-round matches will then continue over the next two days. Defending champion Sinner, as mentioned, will make his debut on Tuesday. Below is the schedule, broken down by day and round, for the tournament through 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— As usual, the Australian Open will be broadcast on Eurosport, available on DAZN. All matches of the tournament will be broadcast exclusively on Discovery+ and HBO Max, which recently launched in Italy.
prize money— For the 2026 edition, the total prize money will be a record-breaking 111.5 million Australian dollars, just over 64 million euros—20 million more than the total prize money for 2025. Prize money for players will increase at every level of the competition: the men’s and women’s champions will each receive 2.39 million euros, a 19% increase (2.1 million in 2025), while the runners-up will receive 1.24 million euros (+13% compared to 2025), but that’s not all. Prize money for qualifying participants will increase by 16%, while for main draw players, the increases will range from 13% to 14%.
