MELBOURNE/WASHINGTON, January 15, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

The official draw for the 2026 Australian Open, which begins on January 18 in Melbourne, took place at the Fan Stage on Grand Slam Oval at Melbourne Park Thursday afternoon. Playing true to their rankings, six-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus – both currently ranked World No. 1 – were placed in their respective No. 1 seed positions in the top half of the men’s and women’s singles brackets for the first Grand Slam event of the year, which begins for the third straight year on a Sunday and continues through February 1.

Then, the No. 2 seeds, World No. 2  and two-time defending AO champion Jannik Sinner of Italy and World No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland, were slotted in the bottom halves of the men’s and women’s brackets. Defending women’s champion Madison Keys of the United States, who was seeded ninth, was drawn to face Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine.

Our defending champions’ first round opponents

Jannik Sinner v Hugo Gaston
Madison Keys v Oleksandra Oliynykova pic.twitter.com/AEqu5czwIJ

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2026

Alcaraz will open against Australia’s Adam Walton and could meet fellow Spaniard and 14th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Australia’s home hero Alex de Minaur, who is seeded sixth, is a possible quarterfinal opponent for Alcaraz. 

Meanwhile, as Sinner goes for his third-straight Norman Brookes Challenge Cup trophy, he begins against Hugo Gaston of France and could oppose 28th seed Joao Fonseca of Brazil in the third round. He could also play No. 8 seed Ben Shelton of the United States in the quarterfinals.

With Alcaraz and Sinner on opposite sides of the draw, it means they can only meet in the final. Should it happen, it would be the fourth consecutive major final featuring Alcaraz and Sinner – and the first time at the Australian Open. Last year, Alcaraz beat Sinner in the French Open final, while Sinner prevailed at both the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open. Alcaraz will be chasing after an historic career Grand Slam at this year’s Australian Open. Should he win, at age 22 he would be the youngest man ever to win all four major events in his career.

Here he is @janniksin pic.twitter.com/8vmKIZBhol

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2026

What remained a mystery for all soon was solved: Which halves of the draw would the No. 3 seeds, Alexander Zverev of Germany and Coco Gauff of the United States, and the No. 4 seeds Novak Djokovic of Serbia and No. 4 Amanda Anisimova of the United States, respectively be placed?

As it happened, Zverev was placed in Alcaraz’s half of the draw and will open against Gabriel Diallo of Canada and the 10-time Australian Open champion Djokovic was placed in Sinner’s half and will play Pedro Martinez of Spain in the first round.

As Djokovic continues his quest for a record-extending 25th major title – and 11th Australian Open crown – he could face 16th seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia in the round of 16 and either fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy or No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz of the United States in the quarterfinals. A possible semifinal could pit Djokovic against Sinner.

Novak comes out on top

6-3 6-4 over Tiafoe in our fourth Opening Week Showdown!@wwos • @espn • @tntsports • @wowowtennis • #AO26 pic.twitter.com/NGVJNtXQgj

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2026

Meanwhile, Gauff is in Sabalenka’s half of the draw and will start against Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan. She could face 45-year-old wild card Venus Williams of the United States in the second round and eighth seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia in the quarterfinals. Anisimova, who was placed in Swiatek’s half of the draw, drew Simona Waltert of Switzerland as her first-round opponent.

While Keys kept Sabalenka from a three-peat after the World No. 1 won the 2023 and 2024 titles, the 27-year-old Belarusian could have to beat two of her biggest rivals, Gauff and Swiatek, in consecutive rounds to win her third Australian Open title in four years. However, for Sabalenka to win another Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, she could have to beat 28th seed Emma Raducanu of Great Britain, Danish 14th seed Clara Tauson and seventh seed – and two-time major finalist – Jasmine Paolini of Italy just to get to Gauff in the semifinals.

As for Swiatek, there are plenty of serious threats that could prevent her from finally winning the only major that has alluded her. She could meet fifth seed Elena Rybakina in a potential quarterfinal and Anisimova in the semifinals. Anisimova could face fellow American sixth seed Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals.

Welcome back to Melbourne, @iga_swiatek #AO26 pic.twitter.com/RC6AhCRdIa

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 14, 2026

Among the intriguing men’s first round matches:

• No. 10 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan vs. Jenson Brooksby of the United States.

• Matteo Berrettini of Italy vs. No. 6 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia.

• No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev vs. Gabriel Diallo of Canada.

• No. 18 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina vs. Zhang Zhizhen of China.

Among the intriguing women’s first round matches:

• Barbora Krejcikova of Czechia vs. No. 23 seed Diana Shnaider of Russia.

• No. 19 seed Karolina Muchova of Czechia vs. Jaqueline Christian of Romania.

• Olga Danilovic of Serbia vs. wild card Venus Williams of the United States.

• Donna Vekic of Croatia vs. No. 8 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia.

Complete Australian Open men’s singles draw

Complete Australian Open women’s singles draw

Around the Australian Open

• This year’s Australian Open will mark the first main-draw appearance at the Happy Slam since 2021 for Sweden’s Elias Ymer, who overcame an early break from 132nd-ranked Coleman Wong of Hong Kong to garner a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 third-round qualifying victory and a berth in the main draw.

The 175th-ranked Ymer, who has not made a major main draw since Wimbledon 2024, will open against Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan.

Other men’s qualifiers include: Zachary Svajda of the United States, Michael Zheng of the United States, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway, Arthur Frey of Great Britain, Jason Kubler of Australia, Liam Draxl of Canada, Jaime Faria of Portugal, Arthur Gea of France, Rei Sakamoto of Japan, Rafael Jodar of Spain, Francesco Maestrelli of Italy, Dane Sweeny of Australia, Martin Damm of the United States, Nishesh Basavareddy of the United States and Wu Yibing of China. Dino Prizmic of Croatia was added as a lucky loser.

He is BACK!

For the first time in 5 years, Elias Ymer is through to the #AusOpen main draw! @wwos • @espn • @tntsports • @wowowtennis • #AO26 pic.twitter.com/3ZEfgm5ZkU

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2026

• Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens is through the Australian Open main draw after winning three rounds of qualifying, including a 6-1, 7-5 victory over No. 106 Lucia Bronzetti of Italy on Thursday.

Stephens, 32, is a former Top 5 player whose ranking has plummeted to No. 1097. She went 0-6 last year and before this week, hadn’t won a tour-level match since Wimbledon in 2024. It’s the first time Stephens has won three straight matches since winning a WTA 250 indoor clay event in April 2024 at Rouen, France.

Other women’s qualifiers include: Bai Zhuoxuan of China, Himeno Sakatsume of Japan, Guiomar Maristany Zuleta De Reales of Spain, Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey, Marina Stakusic of Canada, Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, Storm Hunter of Australia, Linda Klimovicova of Poland, Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine, Angelina Kalinina of Ukraine, Linda Fruhvirtova of Czechia, Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand, Nikola Bartunkova of Czechia, Maddison Inglis of Australia and Yuan Yue of China.

Sloane Stephens, GET IN

The former Grand Slam champion is through to the #AO26 main draw, winning 6-1 7-5.@wwos • @espn • @tntsports • @wowowtennis • #AO26 pic.twitter.com/okZ0sypLwG

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2026

By the numbers

This is the 114th edition of the Australian Championships, which dates back to 1905. It is the 57th Australian Open and the 231st Grand Slam tournament of the Open Era. Melbourne Park is hosting the tournament for the 39th year. It was first played here in 1988, when the venue was known as Flinders Park.

“Quotable …”

“The draw is very difficult. It doesn’t really matter who you face. We will go day by day, especially in the beginning. You never know what to expect. Let’s see what’s coming. We are here to provide the best possible product for tennis.”

– Two-time defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner of Italy, interviewed during Thursday’s draw ceremony.