stunned with a victory in Australia in January<\/a>, but struggled to fire during the rest of the season.<\/p>\nThe favourites \u2013 and the ones to watch \u2013 in 2026<\/p>\n
It should be a fascinating year for women\u2019s tennis.<\/p>\n
The first grand slam of the season, often played out in sweltering Melbourne conditions before the off-season rust has fully worn off, can lay the foundation for the resurgence of a former champion or the breakthrough of a new one.<\/p>\n
![\"Naomi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/35fee258b2bca32e7f0a96192b4f01647b65e116.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Naomi Osaka finished the year strongly with a semi-final appearance at the 2025 US Open.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Naomi Osaka, a hardcourt specialist and two-time winner at Melbourne Park, found her rhythm in 2025 and will head to Australia in her best form in years. American Amanda Anisimova had two grand slam finals appearances last year and should carry that momentum into 2026, while Kazakhstan\u2019s Elena Rybakina is coming off a victory at the WTA finals in November.<\/p>\n
However, Swiatek and Sabalenka will be favourites in Australia.<\/p>\n
On the men\u2019s side, 2026 may well come with a strong feeling of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz and Sinner will be favoured to split the grand slams again, unless one or both are injured, though there is a question mark over Alcaraz after he parted ways with long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero during the off season.<\/p>\n
The Spaniard has struggled to produce his best at slams in Ferrero\u2019s absence, and, although the split appears to have been prompted by Alcaraz and could be seen as a necessary step in the 22-year-old\u2019s progression as a player, it wouldn\u2019t be surprising to see his form dip during the early adjustment period.<\/p>\n
America\u2019s Ben Shelton could have a breakout season if he can stay fit, while Brazil\u2019s Joao Fonseca is the most exciting prospect on the horizon. The 19-year-old looks to have the weapons to challenge the top two, but 2026 might just be too soon.<\/p>\n
Australians to watch<\/p>\n
De Minaur remains Australia\u2019s highest-ranked player at world No.7, but is currently in the pack who struggle against Sinner and Alcaraz.<\/p>\n
Sinner leads their head-to-head 13-0, while Alcaraz has a 5-0 record against the 26-year-old.<\/p>\n
Having made the quarter-finals at all four grand slams, the next step for de Minaur is to reach the last four of a major tournament.<\/p>\n
In the women\u2019s draw, Maya Joint and Daria Kasatkina are the two Australians to watch.<\/p>\n
![\"Australia\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/178efce88d6d7029bb323d5b3c69a77faa5c8e3e.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s highest ranked male and female tennis players Alex de Minaur and Maya Joint.Credit: Steven Siewert<\/p>\n
Joint was an Australian Open wildcard in 2025, but has surged up the rankings after winning titles in Morocco and Eastbourne. She\u2019ll start 2026 ranked No.32, which means she should be seeded at Melbourne Park.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Kasatkina will be playing her first Australian Open as an Australian after switching allegiance from Russia in March 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The likes of Taylor Fritz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud, Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev and Zverev…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-384240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/a0c7c75034e01fd30598428744e6ea6d14eab6ba.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Novak](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/e4efb3ec6c61ec28386c0bcf2ebdf61f19d4ffcf.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n