2026 Australian Open: Alcaraz, French Players & Key Details

The 114th edition of the Australian Open, which begins on Sunday, is one of innovations, with a first opening ceremony and an innovative one-point tournament concept, but above all it promises very tough singles tables.

The first Grand Slam tournament of the year opens on Sunday January 18 in Melbourne, the day after an unprecedented opening ceremony. The sporting challenges are numerous, between the milestone that Carlos Alcaraz must pass to complete his prize list, a vengeful Aryna Sabalenka and the French deprived of two of their headliners. Franceinfo: sport details what you need to know before the start of the competition.

An inevitable Alcaraz-Sinner final?

It would be tempting to summarize the men’s singles draw as a long wait before the final between world number one and number two Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who arrived together in Australia after an exhibition match in South Korea. It would be forgetting that the Spaniard has never made it past the quarter-finals in Melbourne. The two new tennis giants have shared the previous two Grand Slam harvests equally, winning four tournaments each since the start of 2024, but the Italian, a two-time outgoing winner, leaves with a short lead on hard.

As the years go by, Novak Djokovic (4th in the world) falls in the hierarchy of favorites for Grand Slam tournaments, grueling by the repetition and duration of the matches. But the Serbian remains at the top of the Australian Open rankings, with 10 crowns, and has not been beaten before the semi-finals in Melbourne since 2018. Alexander Zverev, finalist last year and 3rd in the world, is the fourth and almost last natural contender, as the gap in level seems significant between the best in the world and the rest of the top 10.

The French without Drink and Son, packages

With the withdrawals of Arthur Fils (42nd in the world), appearing only once in competition since his back stress fracture suffered at Roland-Garros, and Loïs Boisson (35th in the world), not completely recovered from a tear in the quadriceps, France has already lost two of its main chances of a result in Melbourne. It has been ten years since there had been so few French people (10) in the Australian final draw.

For his last Australian Open before his retirement at the end of the season, Gaël Monfils (110th) can still offer some spectacular matches. But the chances of a good run rest above all on Ugo Humbert (36th) and Corentin Moutet (34th), who respectively reached the round of 16 and the third round of the Australian Open last year, as well as on the French number one of the moment Arthur Rinderknech (26th). The problem is that the draw placed Moutet on the path of Alcaraz from the 3rd round, that Mevedev will also be on the road to Rinderknech in the 3rd round, and that Ugo Humbert must challenge Ben Shelton, seeded n°8, from the outset.

In the women’s draw, Elsa Jacquemot (58th), opposed to the Ukrainian Kosyuk (n°20), Varvara Gracheva (74th) opposed to the Swiss Golubic before perhaps facing Rybakina (n°5) in the 2nd round, Léolia Jeanjean (101st) against Maria Sakkari, and Sarah Rakotomanga (118th), whose invitation placed her against Aryna Sabalenka, are the only representatives. Having a Frenchwoman in the 3rd round, or even in the second week, would be a great success.

Sabalenka doesn’t want any more unpleasant surprises

Victorious in 2023 and 2024, beaten in the final by an astonishing Madison Keys last year, world number one Aryna Sabalenka once again advances as favorite. She is aiming for a fifth Major, the second in a row after the US Open last September, and successfully completed her preparation by not losing a single set in Brisbane.

The Belarusian’s last faller, at the Masters in November, is Elena Rybakina, always capable of dominating any player with her power. But the 5th player in the world has not reached the final of a Grand Slam tournament for three years, in Melbourne. The defending champion, Madison Keys, has come back into line since this feat, taking the door in the third round of Wimbledon and even entering the US Open.

Aryna Sabalenka therefore still has Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff as her main competitors, who have never done better than a semi-final in the Rod Laver Arena. She will also have to be wary of the rise in power of Amanda Anisimova, outgoing finalist at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows, but who fell in the second round in Brisbane in preparation.

An unprecedented opening ceremony with Roger Federer

The Australian Open wants to do things big for its 114th edition. The tournament will experience an opening ceremony for the first time on Saturday, on the eve of the first main draw matches. “Kicking off the first Grand Slam of the year, this special event will be an opportunity to pay tribute to the great champions who have shaped tennis, the passionate fans they inspired and the incredible legacy they continue to build.”explained the organization in a press release.

The headliner will be Roger Federer, six-time winner of the Australian Open, accompanied by other tennis glories: Andre Agassi, four-time winner of the tournament, as well as Australians Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt, who will play a match between former world number ones.

A one-point competition

Even before the opening ceremony, the innovative concept of One Point Slam won over the Australian public: a competition which sees the best players in the world, as well as amateurs, compete in matches played on a single point, with rock-paper-scissors to determine the player benefiting from the service. The format kept its promises, with the elimination of Carlos Alcaraz by former world number 3 Maria Sakkari, and the final victory of an amateur, Jordan Smith, who defeated Jannik Sinner in particular. He left with a million Australian dollars (around 574,000 euros) and the status of darling of a Rod Laver Arena conquered by experimentation.

Not shy of innovations, the Australian Open has also launched the Bracket Challenge, which promises 10 million Australian dollars (approximately 5,740,000 euros) to anyone who achieves the unimaginable feat of perfectly predicting the entire results of one of the singles tables. Enough to win more than the two winners combined, without even playing.