Tennis Australia Media Release, December 9, 2025

Ninety-nine of the world’s top-100 men and 98 of the top-100 women will make the trip to Melbourne Park in January, as confirmed by the release of the Australian Open 2026 entry lists.

VIEW: Men’s singles entry list | Women’s singles entry list

World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, targeting a career Grand Slam at AO 2026, headlines the men’s field, while two-time AO champion Aryna Sabalenka, who has appeared in the past three AO finals, leads the women’s list.

Alcaraz is yet to go beyond the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park and will face intense competition from world No.2 Jannik Sinner, the 2024 and 2025 champ who is aiming to become only the second man in the Open era, after Novak Djokovic, to win three consecutive AO singles titles.

He and Alcaraz have met in the past three Grand Slam finals, with the Australian Open the only major tournament at which they are yet to meet.

Djokovic, a 10-time AO champion, enters as world No.4 after reaching all four major semifinals in 2025, making him the oldest man in the Open era to achieve this feat in one season.

The notable absentee from the men’s field is world No.15 Holger Rune, who continues to rehabilitate a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Sabalenka will be joined in the women’s field by defending champion Madison Keys, world No.2 Iga Swiatek – who is targeting a career Slam in Melbourne after her 2025 Wimbledon victory – and reigning Roland Garros champion Coco Gauff, who beat Sabalenka in the French final.

World No.64 Danielle Collins and 76th-ranked Ons Jabeur, the latter currently on maternity leave, will miss the tournament, while former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova, China’s Wang Yafan and rising Thai talent Mananchaya Sawangkaew have entered using protected rankings.

Four men – Chinese stars Shang Juncheng and Zhang Zhizhen, Finn Emil Ruusuvuori and Australian favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis – have entered the tournament using protected rankings.

That makes Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante the last direct acceptance, the world No.101 at the time of the 17 November rankings on which men’s entries are based. Frenchwoman Leolia Jeanjean is the last direct acceptance into the women’s field, ranked 103rd at the time of the 8 December entry deadline.

Meanwhile, world No.7 Alex de Minaur leads the Australian contingent. The AO 2025 quarterfinalist is one of six Aussies in the men’s field, while the nation’s top-ranked woman, world No.32 Maya Joint, leads four countrywomen into the women’s event.

Eight wildcards and 16 qualifiers will round out the 128-player fields in both the men’s and women’s singles events, with three of those wildcards already announced.

The qualifying competition takes place at Melbourne Park on 12-15 January as part of Opening Week presented by Herald Sun.