AO Media Release, January 14, 2026

The 32 seeded players for the Australian Open 2026 main draw have been confirmed ahead of Thursday’s official draw ceremony at Melbourne Park.

Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka are the top seeds for Australian Open 2026, headlining the men’s and women’s singles main draws to be revealed from 2.30pm AEDT on Thursday 15 January.

Men’s second seed is two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner, a seeding position ensuring that, should he and Alcaraz keep winning, they can only meet in the final.

Should that meeting occur, it would be the fourth consecutive Grand Slam final featuring the Italian and the Spaniard, and their first clash at the Australian Open.

Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff are the top three seeds in the women’s draw for the second consecutive year.

Last year at Melbourne Park, Sabalenka and Swiatek were one point away from facing off in a No.1 v No.2 final, a match-up that remains a possibility in 2026 given their top two seeding positions.

The player who prevented that scenario in 2025 was Madison Keys, who saved match point to stun Swiatek in the semifinals, then upset two-time defending champion Sabalenka in the final, in a fairytale run to her first Grand Slam title.

Keys returns as the defending champion and the No.9 seed, one of four American women among the top 10 seeds.

Alexander Zverev is the third seed – marking the second straight year he, Alcaraz and Sinner make up the top three seeds – while 10-time champion Novak Djokovic begins his 21st AO campaign as the No.4 seed.

Newly-minted top-five player Lorenzo Musetti rounds out the top five men’s seeds.

Seeded sixth is Alex de Minaur, making him the highest-seeded Australian in AO men’s singles in 20 years, while marking his third straight year as a top-10 seed.

On the women’s side, 30th seed Maya Joint is the first Australian woman to be seeded since Ash Barty won AO 2022 as the top seed.

Also seeded are other Grand Slam champions including Elena Rybakina (5), Naomi Osaka – who secured a notable top-16 seed – Jelena Ostapenko (24), Sofia Kenin (27), Emma Raducanu (28) and Marketa Vondrousova (32).

On the men’s side, 2021 US Open champion and last week’s Brisbane winner Daniil Medvedev – a three-time AO finalist – is the only seeded player outside the top four to have won a major.

MEN SEED WOMEN
Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) 1 Aryna Sabalenka
Jannik Sinner (ITA) 2 Iga Swiatek (POL)
Alexander Zverev (GER) 3 Coco Gauff (USA)
Novak Djokovic (SRB) 4 Amanda Anisimova (USA)
Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) 5 Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Alex de Minaur (AUS) 6 Jessica Pegula (USA)
Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 7 Jasmine Paolini (ITA)
Ben Shelton (USA) 8 Mirra Andreeva
Taylor Fritz (USA) 9 Madison Keys (USA)
Alexander Bublik (KAZ) 10 Belinda Bencic (SUI)
Daniil Medvedev 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova
Casper Ruud (NOR) 12 Elina Svitolina (UKR)
Andrey Rublev 13 Linda Noskova (CZE)
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) 14 Clara Tauson (DEN)
Karen Khachanov 15 Emma Navarro (USA)
Jakub Mensik (CZE) 16 Naomi Osaka (JPN)
Jiri Lehecka (CZE) 17 Victoria Mboko (CAN)
Francisco Cerundolo (ARG) 18 Liudmila Samsonova
Tommy Paul (USA) 19 Karolina Muchova (CZE)
Flavio Cobolli (ITA) 20 Marta Kostyuk (UKR)
Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 21 Elise Mertens (BEL)
Luciano Darderi (ITA) 22 Leylah Fernandez (CAN)
Tallon Griekspoor (NED) 23 Diana Shnaider
Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) 24 Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)
Learner Tien (USA) 25 Paula Badosa (ESP)
Cameron Norrie (GBR) 26 Dayana Yastremska (UKR)
Brandon Nakashima (USA) 27 Sofia Kenin (USA)
Joao Fonseca (BRA) 28 Emma Raducanu (GBR)
Frances Tiafoe (USA) 29 Iva Jovic (USA)
Valentin Vacherot (MON) 30 Maya Joint (AUS)
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 31 Anna Kalinskaya
Corentin Moutet (FRA) 32 Marketa Vondrousova (CZE)