Australian Open 2026 live: Thanasi Kokkinakis withdraws as world’s top players learn their fate in tournament draw

9m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 4:11amWho have the Australian men drawn in round one?

Now for a look who our Australian men have drawn in the first round of the draw.

Starting with Alex De Minaur who has been handed the difficult task of facing former Australian Open semifinalist Matteo Berrettini.

That is not nearly as difficult as Adam Walton’s first match up though. He is facing top seed and world number one Carlos Alcaraz.

Tristan Schoolkate has been handed the 32nd seed Frenchman Corentin Moutet, while Aleksandar Vukic will face Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante.

Alexei Popyrin will meet a Frenchman too in round one, he will meet Alexandre Muller.

Wildcard entrant Jordan Thompson will take on Juan Manuel Cerundolo from Argentina.

Fellow wildcard Rinky Hijikata will face off against a Frenchman as well, he has Adrian Mannarino in the first round.

Christopher O’Connell, also a wildcard has been drawn against a qualifier or a lucky loser, as has James Duckworth.

10m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 4:11amMen’s predicted quarterfinals

If all goes perfect (but who knows), here are the men’s singles predicted quarterfinals:

Carlos Alcaraz [1] vs Alex de Minaur [6]Alex Zverev [3] vs Felix Auger-Aliassime [7]Lorenzo Musetti [5] vs Novak Djokovic [4]Ben Shelton [8] vs Jannik Sinner [2]24m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:56amOuch for home favourite Alex de Minaur

Oh no….

Number six seed Alex di Minaur has drawn Matteo Berrettini (number 56 seed) in the first round.

Berrettini has been ranked as high as world number six in singles, but has been plagued by injuries in recent years.

This wasn’t the first round match-up de Minaur would have been hoping for.

He trails the Italian 3-2 in their head-to-head.

The Aussie is on the same side of the bracket as Carlos Alcaraz, who he could verse in the quarterfinal. 

De Minaur has lost to Alcaraz on all five occasions they have played.

25m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:56amWho did the Australian women draw in the Open?

Let’s take a look at who our Australian women have drawn in the Open.

Starting from the top of the draw, first up we have Emerson Jones who has been drawn against 17th seed Victoria Mboko of Canada.

Further down the draw, Priscilla Hon, an Australian wildcard entrant, has been drawn against a qualifier.

Talia Gibson, also a wildcard will face off against Anna Blinkova. A tough match.

Ajla Tomljanovic has been drawn against a qualifier. Important to note that Tomljanovic pulled out of the Adelaide International through injury.

Another Aussie wildcard, Taylah Preston, has to face China’s Shuai Zhang in her opening match. Preston has impressed at the Hobart International.

Our only seeded women’s player is Maya Joint. The 30th seed will take on Czech Tereza Valentova.

To finish the draw in terms of our Australian women, Daria Kasatkina has been drawn against a qualifier, as did Kimberly Birrell.

25m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:55amMen’s singles draw up now

Okay here we go!

The top half of the draw is Carlos Alcaraz and Alex Zverev.

The bottom half is Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.

27m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:53am

‘Toughest part of the draw’

Host for the draw, Jelena Dokic, has described the Madison Keys, Jess Pegula, and Amanda Anisimova (all Americans) quadrant of the draw as the toughest.

30m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:51amProjected women’s quarterfinals based on draw

Here’s how we could be looking if the below top seeds make it through the first four rounds:

Number one Aryna Sabalenka vs number seven Jasmine PaoliniNumber eight Mirra Andreeva vs number three Coco GauffNumber six Jess Pegula vs number four Amanda AnisimovaNumber five Elena Rybakina vs number two Iga Swiatek34m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:46amVenus Williams draws world number 68 in the first round

Wildcard Venus Williams has drawn Olga Danilovic in the first round.

If she makes it into the third round, she could face Coco Gauff.

36m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:44am

Reigning champ Keys to verse Oliynykova

Reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys (who is the ninth seed), will be up against Oleksandra Oliynykova in the first round.

Oliynykova’s WTA ranking is 90.

40m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:40amFirst up, we have the women’s singles draw

This is where they will randomly place the unseeded players into the women’s singles draw.

The number one seed, Aryna Sabalenka, is on line number one and the number two seed, Iga Swiatek, is on line 128.

American Coco Gauff, the number three seed, is in the top half of the draw, which is on Sabalenka’s side.

Swiatek is in the bottom half with number four seed, Amanda Anisimova.

43m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:37am

Sinner delivers the men’s trophy

Defending Australian Open men’s champion Jannik Sinner has delivered the trophy to the draw, relinquishing it for now.

Women’s defending champ Madison Keys was unable to deliver her trophy, as she is still competing in the Adelaide International.

Her trophy was carried in by one of Melbourne Park’s ball girls.

Speaking on stage, Sinner said the draw was always exciting and that he would be watching with intent.

Hosts for the draw, Jelena Dokic and Todd Woodbridge will get the draw underway shortly.

51m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:29am

We’re moments away from the draw

We should be away very shortly with the draw for the 2026 Australian Open.

Stick with us as we break down all the match-ups, who has the best/toughest run and look to the future.

54m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:26am

Top seeds will want to avoid Hurkacz

Hubert Hurkacz was ranked inside the top 20 as recently as February last year, and inside the top 10 in 2024.

However, after a back injury ruled him out for an extended period of time, he has returned to tennis and looks in good form.

Hubert Hurkacz (Getty Images: Steve Christo/Corbis)

Due to that time away though he comes into the Australian Open ranked just outside the top 50 and will be unseeded in this draw.

That makes him someone to keep an eye on, unless you are one of the top 32 seeds.

Because for them, he is someone they will want to avoid early on.

58m agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:23am

Send through your comments

Lewis and I are standing by for any comments, questions or thoughts you may have for the Australian Open draw, so please send them through and we’ll do our best to get back to you!

You can leave a comment by clicking on the big yellow button at the top of the blog.

1h agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:14amKokkinakis withdraws from the AO

Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis shared some sad news on social media just moments ago.

He has withdrawn from the Australian Open singles with a shoulder injury. This comes after he withdrew from the second round of the Adelaide International on Wednesday.

Fans may still be able to catch him at the tournament though, as he’s going to “give doubles a go” with partner Nick Kyrgios.

1h agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 3:04amAlex de Minaur’s previous luck in the draw(AAP: Dan Himbrechts)

Alex de Minaur’s draw in the Australian Open will rest on a ball that gets pulled out of a bowl … stressful, right?

The Aussie world number six will be hoping for a kind draw this year, given he’s consistently drawn poorly in the second week, including having Jannik Sinner in his path in three of the last four years.

Here’s how his losses have played out:

2025 quarterfinals: Lost against Sinner2024 fourth round: Lost against Andrey Rublev (Sinner awaited)2023 fourth round: Lost against Novak Djokovic2022 fourth round: Lost against Sinner

Seeded sixth, de Minaur will be drawn to face one of the top four seeds in the quarterfinals, should he make it that far again.

He’ll be hoping it’s world number three, Alex Zverev, given his career record against him is better than that of Alcaraz, Sinner and Djokovic.

1h agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 2:56am

What Australians are in the main draw?

Glad you asked.

Fans at the Open will have plenty of local heroes to cheer for when the action begins.

Here’s the full list of the Aussie women in the main draw:

Maya Joint (32)Daria Kasatkina (48)Ajla Tomljanovic (76)Kimberley Birrell (107)Priscilla Hon (121)Talia Gibson (WC)Emerson Jones (WC)Taylah Preston (WC)

And here’s the full list of the Aussie men in the main draw:

Alex de Minaur (6)Alexei Popyrin (49)Aleksandar Vukic (87)Adam Walton (79)Tristan Schoolkate (97)Dane Sweeny (182 — made it through qualifying)James Duckworth (WC)Rinky Hijikata (WC)Jordan Thompson (WC)Chris O’Connell (WC)

1h agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 2:51am

First Australian through qualifying

Dane Sweeny is the first Australian to progress to the main draw through qualifying.

The 24-year-old defeated Stefano Travaglia 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5) over an enduring two-hour battle.

As Travaglia hit the ball into the net and lost what was the match-winning point for Sweeny, the Australian collapsed to the floor at Melbourne Park.

The crowd erupted.

This is the second time Sweeny has made the first round of the Australian Open. Last time he lost against Francisco Cerúndolo in a thrilling five-setter.

He said he was in “disbelief” that he made it through during his on-court interview.

“Really, I was ranked 700 not so long ago, and I persevered, I was doubting the whole time.

“I just feel so incredibly grateful to be able to be in this position, and I’m proud of myself for digging in there when it was really tough.”

1h agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 2:46am

What’s the benefit of being a seeded player?

Being a seeded player in a grand slam means you’re one of the top-ranked players, strategically placed in the draw to avoid playing other top seeds until later rounds.

For example, they can’t meet another seed until at least the third round, meaning they’ll play lower-ranked players first up.

1h agoThu 15 Jan 2026 at 2:40amWho are the number one seeds at the Aus Open?

Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka are the top seeds for the Australian Open 2026.

You can check out the full list of 32 seeded men and women players in the chart below.