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Australian Open 2026: 114th Edition Begins with Elite Tennis

The pictures emphasize that the Australian Open 2026, one of the Grand Slams, is set to open on the court.

Get ready for a first-year grand slam of the Australian Open, which starts coming up soon in the tennis world. The Australian Open promises an electrifying tennis spectacle at Melbourne Park. Fans can likely expect exciting matches, with rising stars challenging seasoned champions in top-seed performances. Innovations both on and off court will set the tone for the tennis season ahead. This year offers tennis fans the chance to see records broken and new contenders emerge.

Regarding players, this Australian Open 2026 tournament is the first major exam of the year, remoulding situations. In the global tennis world, the Australian Open 2026 is much more than just a league for the year’s chronicle. Drop into the world of games; in-depth information with the latest updates is here.

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2026 Australian Open Highlights

For the 114th edition of the Australian Open and overall 58th in the Open Era for Grand Slams. Additionally, the Australian Open will occur from January 18 to February 1, 2026, at Melbourne Park. Also, this location hosted hard-court play with splendid fans and was the first year of the Grand Slam. However, the Australian Open will feature men’s singles, women’s singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. In addition, these juniors’ events will feature boys’ and girls’ singles and doubles.

While the wheelchair division will include men’s, women’s, and quad singles and doubles. As well as junior wheelchair singles for boys and girls. A crucial clash and expected matches are returning to performance, adding a nostalgic wonder for fans. Notably, junior wheelchair events continue to spot the tournament’s commitment to coverage. In 2026, the Australian Open sets the stage for a vivacious beginning to the global tennis calendar.

Backstory of the Australian Open

In 1905, the Australian Open was founded and held for the first time as the Australasian Championships in Melbourne. In an early year, this tournament shifted to Melbourne more permanently. Afterwards, it was renamed the Australian Championships in 1927 and run with a set of fan bases. Then, in 1969, it reached the Open Era as the Australian Open finalized professional player encounters. For years, the event was played on grass courts at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. In 1988, it moved to Melbourne Park, a modern venue planned to host and grow internationally.

This surface has also grown over time from grass to Rebound Ace and, later, Pelxicushion in 2008. Finally, the Australian Open tournament switched to hard courts in 2020, ensuring consistency for players. The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, features highlights of juniors and wheelchair players. Check out another grand slam tennis tournament.

Event Details for the Australian Open 2026

Qualifiers: January 12, 2026

Start Date: January 18, 2026

Quarter-Finals: January 27, 2026

Semi-Finals: January 30, 2026

Finals: February 1, 2026

Other Events

Wheelchair Events: January 27-31, 2026

Junior Events: January 24-February 2, 2026

Format

The Australian Open 2026 will be played at Melbourne Park and will feature a 128-player singles draw. Even more categories: a 64-team doubles draw and multiple junior and wheelchair tournaments. A main draw event follows a knockout format: a round of 128 filters down to a round of 64. Afterwards, the round of 32, the round of 16, the quarterfinals, the semi-finals, and then the final. Followed by doubles and mixed doubles with a similar elimination format but with smaller draws.

However, the match format is standard across Grand Slam events. The men’s singles draw has 128 players with best-of-five sets. In women’s singles, doubles, mixed doubles, and all junior and wheelchair events, there is a 128-player draw with best-of-three sets. Furthermore, both Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles play a 64-team draw with the best of three sets.

Other categories of mixed doubles play on a 32-team draw and best of three sets. Similarly, junior events include boys’ and girls’ singles with 64-player draws and doubles with 32-team draws, both best-of-three sets. Wheelchair events include men’s, women’s, and quad singles and doubles, played to the best-of-three sets. Meanwhile, junior wheelchair singles are also performing with all best-of-three sets.

New Rules for Australian Open 2026

Tie-break formats: All deciding sets include the fifth set in men’s singles and the third set in women’s singles and doubles. Now using a ten-point super tiebreak moves the score range to 6-6.

Shot Clock: A serve for 25 seconds in the middle, and players watch the visible shot clock. This rule keeps the flow strictly on the Australian Open 2026

Seeding

ATP Players

PlayerNationality
Carlos AlcarazSpain
Jannik SinnerItaly
Novak DjokovicSerbia
Alexander ZverevGermany
Felix Auger-AliassimeCanada
Alex de MinaurAustralia
Lorenzo MusettiItaly
Ben SheltonUSA
Casper RuudNorway
Taylor FritzUSA

WTA Players

PlayerNationality
Aryna SabalenkaBelarus
Iga ŚwiątekPoland
Coco GauffUSA
Elena RybakinaKazakhstan
Jessica PegulaUSA
Amanda AnisimovaUSA
Jasmine PaoliniItaly
Mirra AndreevaRussia
Ekaterina AlexandrovaRussia
Madison KeysUSA

Where can I watch the Australian Open 2026?

You can access SuperSport’s broadcast of the Australian Open 2026 for African fans. ATP and WTA players are ready to showcase their potential.

Get ready for the Australian Open 2026, which will air on beIN Sports for Egyptian followers.

In the USA, enthusiasts want to see ESPN and Tennis Channel coverage of the Australian Open 2026.

Catch the Australian Open 2026, which will broadcast on 9Now and Stan Sport for Australian viewers.

Experience the Australian Open 2026, which will air on the CCTV channel from the first round to the final stage of the tournament. Additionally, China fans utensils for QIY streaming options in the Australian Open.

The Australian Open 2026 will air on WOWOW streaming services for Japan’s followers.

In New Zealand, viewers of the Australian Open 2026 will be able to watch it on the Sky channel this year.

Watch the Australian Open 2026 on CJ ENM streaming options for the South Korean followers.

The Australian Open 2026 will air on Sony Sports Selection for the Central Asia region, especially for Afghanistan fans.

Make ready for the Australian Open 2026, which will be broadcast on Eurosport for Azerbaijani followers. Also, this streaming option is more like Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Meanwhile, the Australian Open 2026 will air on Eurosport across Europe. While including Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey.

In India, fans want to watch the Australian Open 2026 on Sony Sports, the 1st Grand Slam event of this year. This option is used in Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

Alternatively, the Australian Open 2026 can be heard on 99.7FM (Melbourne) and ESPN Sirius XM (US) on the radio; multiple options include Vision Australia Radio, iHeartRadio, and SEN Network.

In the tennis world, the very first Grand Slam of 2026, the Australian Open, will be broadcast in Canada on TSN and RDS.

Schedule-Australian Open 2026

Date & SessionRoundsMatches Singles
Thursday 1/15 – DayQualifyingQualifying
Friday 1/16 – DayQualifyingQualifying
Saturday 1/17 – DayQualifyingQualifying
Sunday 1/18 – Day1First round
Sunday 1/18 – Night2First round
Monday 1/19 – Day3First round
Monday 1/19 – Night4First round
Tuesday 1/20 – Day5First round
Tuesday 1/20 – Night6First round
Wednesday 1/21 – Day7Second round
Wednesday 1/21 – Night8Second round
Thursday 1/22 – Day9Second round
Thursday 1/22 – Night10Second round
Friday 1/23 – Day11Third round
Friday 1/23 – Night12Third round
Saturday 1/24 – Day13Third round
Saturday 1/24 – Night14Third round
Sunday 1/25 – Day15Fourth round
Sunday 1/25- Night16Fourth round
Monday 1/26 – Day17Fourth round
Monday 1/26 – Night18Fourth round
Tuesday 1/27 – Day19Quarterfinals
Tuesday 1/27 – Night20Quarterfinals
Wednesday 1/28 – Day21Quarterfinals
Wednesday 1/28 – Night22Quarterfinals
Thursday 1/29 – Twilight23Women’s Semifinals
Friday 1/30 – Day24First men’s semifinal
Friday 1/30 – Night25Second men’s semifinal
Saturday 1/31 – Twilight26Women’s Singles Final | Men’s Doubles Final
Sunday 2/1 – Twilight27Women’s Doubles Final | Men’s Singles Final

Australian Open 2026-Prize Pool

CategoryPrize Pool
Champion$4,150,000
Runner-up$2,150,000
Semi-finalist$1,250,000
Quarter-finalist$750,000
Fourth round$480,000
Third round$327,750
Second round$225,000
First round$150,000
Qualifying – third round$83,500
Qualifying – second round$57,000
Qualifying – first round$40,500

Point Distribution

Senior Points

EventMen’s SinglesMen’s DoublesWomen’s SinglesWomen’s Doubles
Winner2000200020002000
Final1300120013001300
Semi-final800720780780
Quarter-final400360430430
Round of 16200180240240
Round of 3210090130130
Round of 645007010
Round of 1281010
Qualifier3040
Qualifiers 31630
Qualifiers 2820
Qualifiers 102

Wheelchair Points

EventSinglesDoublesQuad SinglesQuad Doubles
Winner800800800800
Final500500500500
Semi-Final375375375375
Quarter-Final200100200100
Round of 16100N/A100N/A

Junior Points

EventBoys’ SinglesGirls’ SinglesBoys’ DoublesGirls’ Doubles
Winner10001000750750
Final700700525525
Semi-final490490367367
Quarter-final300300225225
Round of 16180180135135
Round of 329090
Qualifier2525
Qualifier 32020

Prediction

This year’s Australian Open bounce-back has remarkable wonders in store for you. A tennis world with one of the grand slams opens up the elite Australian Open. Begins with qualifying from January 12 to January 17. Note it down! In ATP players’ contributions, wild cards are entered into the Men’s Singles category. ATP players are Bu Yunchaokete, James Duckworth, Rinky Hijikata, Kyrian Jacquet, and Patrick Kypson. The following are the WTA players entering the women’s singles main draw. Zarina Diyas, Talia Gibson, Priscilla Hon, Emerson Jones, Elizabeth Mandlik, Taylah Preston, Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, and Venus Williams. This time, there are many more chances to glorify players’ performances in the upcoming Grand Slam event. The Australian Open 2026 keeps coming your way; be ready for that one.

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