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 at Melbourne Park

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 at the Australian Open

Madison Keys of the United States and Jannik Sinner of Italy won the 2025 singles trophies. Keys beat 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 in Melbourne

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.

Who are the betting favorites at the 2026 Australian Open?

Sabalenka is the money-line favorite to win the women’s singles trophy, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. The two-time champion is listed at +175, with Iga Swiatek next at +450. Coco Gauff is the third choice at +600. Sinner is the favorite to grab a third consecutive men’s championship at -125, ahead of Alcaraz (+160), with a big drop-off to third choice Novak Djokovic (+900).

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, win-by-two 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 break Down Under.

What’s new this year

The Australian Open is introducing “opening week” where the Melbourne Park precinct is 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 sessions in Rod Laver Arena to see some of the sport’s biggest names preparing for the first major of the year. Tennis Australia says a crowd of 29,261 attended on Monday — last year, 7,543 fans attended the first day of qualifying. Organizers are also expanding the so-called 1 Point Slam in the 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 Tuesday 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 Australian Open 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 wild-card 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 play doubles but not singles at the Australian Open

2026 prize money at the Australian Open

Australian Open prize money has increased by 16% from last year to a record total in local currency of 111.5 million Australian dollars ($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 from last year.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis