Women's tennis has Coco, Sabalenka, Swiatek and more. The men have 'Sincaraz' at the Australian Open
- - Women's tennis has Coco, Sabalenka, Swiatek and more. The men have 'Sincaraz' at the Australian Open
HOWARD FENDRICH January 17, 2026 at 9:58 PM
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1 / 5Australian Open TennisCoco Gauff of the United States serves during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
With Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys divvying up the four Grand Slam titles last season, women's tennis offers quite a bit more intrigue these days than the “ Sincaraz ” dominance in the men's game.
Indeed, seven of the past nine years ended with different female champions at every major tournament.
No. 1-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who plays his first-round match at Melbourne Park when action gets started Sunday, and two-time defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, meanwhile, have combined to win the past eight men's Slam trophies.
They've even met in the last three major finals — making 2025 the first season since 1964, when Roy Emerson and Fred Stolle did it, that the same two men squared off in three Slam title matches.
“The rivalry with Alcaraz and Sinner is a great one,” said no less an authority than Roger Federer.
Alcaraz and Sinner played each other six times last year, every one in a final (Alcaraz won four).
Contrast that with No. 1 Sabalenka and No. 2 Swiatek, whose only meeting in 2025 came in the French Open semifinals.
“It's actually not only about me and Iga. It’s Coco, Elena (Rybakina), Jessica (Pegula). I just don’t want to forget anyone right now,” said Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024 and plays Sunday. “That's crazy to think that we only played once last year."
Here is what else to know about the 2026 Australian Open, the season's first major tennis tournament:
Players still want more money and more say at Slams
Each Grand Slam event that comes and goes tends to offer record prize money, and that's the case at the 2026 Australian Open, where it increased 16% from 2025 to about $75 million.
Tennis players, though, seek more, along with increased benefits and a greater say in how things are run at the four most prestigious — and lucrative — tournaments.
Keys, the defending champion in Melbourne, said she's "cautiously optimistic" about further gains.
“We all need each other,” she said.
Gauff said players “are grateful for the progress that has been made,” but noted: “The percentage ... of revenue ... is still not where we would like it.”
Serena Williams didn't come back, but Venus is in Australia
Serena Williams, 44, sparked interest in a possible comeback by registering for the sport's doping program — a requirement to return from retirement — but posted on social media she was not planning to compete again. Her older sister Venus, 45, never announced she was leaving and did get back on tour last July after a 16-month absence; the Australian Open is her second Grand Slam tournament in a row.
Venus, who recently got married, hasn't played at Melbourne Park since a second-round loss in 2021; this will be her 22nd time in the draw. Her opponent Sunday is Olga Danilovic.
Stan Wawrinka is playing his last year on tour
There's no way to know how much longer seven-time major singles champion Venus Williams will keep at it, but another owner of multiple Slam titles, 40-year-old Stan Wawrinka, says this is his last season.
Like Williams, Wawrinka received a wild-card entry from Tennis Australia.
“It was not at all a hard decision. It was quite easy,” Wawrinka said about retiring after 2026.
He won the 2014 Australian Open, 2015 French Open and 2016 U.S. Open, defeating Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic in each final.
3 players expected to challenge Alcaraz and Sinner are sidelined
After the Big Three stardom of Federer-Nadal-Djokovic, folks have wondered who might step up to challenge the dominance of Alcaraz and Sinner. Three youngsters seen as possible contenders — Holger Rune, Jack Draper and Arthur Fils — are all dealing with lengthy injury absences and will miss the Australian Open.
Rune, a 22-year-old from Denmark ranked as high as No. 4 and a three-time major quarterfinalist, ruptured his left Achilles tendon in October.
Draper, a 24-year-old from Britain ranked as high as No. 4 and a 2024 U.S. Open semifinalist, played just two matches since the start of July because of bone bruising in his left arm.
Fils, a 21-year-old from France who's been ranked No. 14 and reached Wimbledon's fourth round in 2024, has entered one tournament since withdrawing before a French Open match in May because of a stress fracture in his lower back.
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AP Sports Writer John Pye in Melbourne, Australia, contributed to this report.
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
