MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Get ready for the 2026 Australian Open with a guide that tells you everything you need to know about how to watch the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the season on TV, who the defending champions are, what the schedule is and more:
Opening day
Singles play begins next Sunday at 11 a.m. local time (7 p.m. Saturday EST) around the grounds, with the first match in Rod Laver Arena scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. Saturday EST).
Where to watch the Australian Open on TV
— In the U.S.: ESPN and Tennis Channel
— Other countries are listed here
Defending champions
Madison Keys of the United States and Jannick Sinner of Italy won the 2025 singles trophies. Keys beat the No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 for her first Grand Slam trophy. Sinner beat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to successfully defend his title at Melbourne Park.
Top seeds
Sabalenka will be the top-seeded woman and Carlos Alcaraz the top-seeded man. They currently are ranked No. 1, and the tournament seedings usually follow the WTA and ATP rankings.
More about the year’s first Grand Slam tournament
The Australian Open is played outdoors on hard courts at Melbourne Park, located along the Yarra River near downtown Melbourne. There are retractable roofs at Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and John Cain Arena. Women play best-of-three-set matches with a first-to-10 tiebreaker at 6-all in the third; men play best-of-five with a tiebreaker at 6-all in the fifth. Like at the U.S. Open and French Open, there are night sessions. The tournament is staged each year around the last two weeks of January, during the school summer holidays Down Under.
What’s new this year
The Australian Open is introducing “opening week” where the Melbourne Park precinct will be open to the public from the start of the qualifying tournament, and live music will be staged every night at Grand Slam Oval. Fans can watch open practice sesions in Rod Laver Arena to see some of the sport’s biggest names preparing for the first major of the year. Organizers are also expanding the so-called 1 Point Slam in opening week, where 22 professional players and 10 amateurs get the chance to play for 1 million Australian dollars in prize money.
What is happening Monday at Melbourne Park?
First round of qualifying for the men’s and women’s singles.
Singles schedule at the Australian Open
— Jan. 18-19-20: First Round (Women and Men)
— Jan. 21-22: Second Round (Women and Men)
— Jan. 23-24: Third Round (Women and Men)
— Jan. 25-26: Fourth Round (Women and Men)
— Jan. 27-28: Quarterfinals (Women and Men)
— Jan. 29: Women’s Semifinals
— Jan. 30: Men’s Semifinals
— Jan. 31: Women’s Final
— Feb. 1: Men’s Final
Stories to read before play begins
— Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka describes the season schedule as “insane.”
— Coco Gauff adds some context on the “worst” fans
— Novak Djokovic is cutting ties with the Professional Tennis Players Association
— Venus Williams gets a wildcard entry for the Australian Open, at age 45
— Carlos Alcaraz ends his 7-year partnership with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero
— The ATP is adding a heat rule like the one the women have had for 30 years
— Nick Kyrgios will do doubles time, but won’t play singles at the Australian Open
2026 prize money
Australian Open prize money has increased by 16% on last year to a record total in local currency of 111.5 million Australian dollars (US$75 million). That was up from 96.5 million Australian dollars in 2025. The women’s and men’s singles champions will win 4.15 million Australian dollars ($2.8 million), a 19% increase on last year.
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