TRANSCRIPT
The holiday season may have drawn to a close, but for Australian tennis fans, the festivities are just getting started.
The Australian Open returns to Melbourne Park for its 114th edition this month, bringing a wide array of superstars and hopefuls from around the world to sweat it out on the iconic blue courts.
The top ranked men's players Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have arrived in Melbourne to begin preparations.
World number one, Alcaraz, is a six-time Grand Slam champion but has never advanced past the quarter-finals stage in Melbourne, while world number two, Sinner, will be aiming to defend his Australian Open title for a third straight year following the Italian’s successes in 2024 and 2025.
They say they're excited to push each other this tournament.
"We push each other, you know, to be better, so, I think that's what I keep from this, you know, good rivalry. I think everybody needs someone that pushes you to be better, to give your 100 per cent, and I think that's what we are doing every time.”
“Yeah, I mean, we are, I believe everyone is different in a way, so, it's good for the sport to have different personalities and game styles, and it's great, you know, to share a court with him I see a completely different point of view, how to approach certain points.”
World number four Novak Djokovic, who holds the record for most men's Australian Open titles at 10, will be looking to challenge the younger men to extend that achievement.
The Australian Open is the first of the four major tennis tournaments held each year that make up the Grand Slam series, alongside the French Open in Paris, the Wimbledon Championships in London and the US Open in New York.
It includes a range of match types, including men’s and women’s singles and doubles, as well as mixed doubles, junior championships, wheelchair, exhibition matches and more.
At $111.5 million, this year's prize pool is the largest in the tournament’s history — a 16 per cent increase on 2025.
The opening week started on Monday 12 January, with hundreds of lower-ranked hopefuls competing in qualifying rounds to secure their spot in the main draw.
The main draw will start on Sunday, 18 January and run for two weeks.
Last year, Madison Keys took home the women's Australian Open trophy - the 30-year-old's first Grand Slam win in her career.
The American, now ranked ninth in the world, says tennis can be unpredictable but she's hoping to defend her title.
"Obviously after you win a slam expectations go up. So, I think I've played the past year with higher expectations, but I think I'm really just trying to go out and start the year off as best as I can and play some really good tennis and I'm excited to see how all of the chips fall."
Hot on the heels of the reigning champion is the world number one women's player Aryna Sabalenka who fell short in last year's final.
The Russian has taken home the Brisbane International trophy earlier in the month and hopes to build off this momentum.
"Yeah it's super special, I'm happy to hold this trophy. I'm happy to start season on a very strong note. Nobody knows what's what's gonna happen in the future but the only one thing I'm sure is that I'll be there, I'll be fighting. I'll do my best to to go as far as possible and do a little bit better than the last year and that's that's where my focus is. My focus is on my game, on developing myself and making sure that I'm strong and healthy heading to the AO."
World number four and reigning French Open champion, Coco Gauff, is also hoping she can start her season with a bang in Australia, with the American telling Channel Nine she's been training hard.
"Last year I felt like I started off my season pretty strong. So, looking forward to hopefully doing the same thing. But you never know what to expect at the start of the year. You've been practising for a few weeks straight. So hopefully the things that I've been working on in practice can translate over."
Another big name to watch out for this year is Polish player Iga Świątek who won Wimbledon last year and is currently ranked world number two.
And when it comes to local Australian Open hopes, there's none better than men's world number six player Alex de Minaur.
De Minaur has been in good form lately, recently defeating Poland's Hubert Hurkacz on home turf in Sydney in the United Cup.
He tells the Australian Open YouTube channel that he's planning on being a title threat this tournament after making it to the quarter finals last year.
"I would love nothing more than to have a deep run there and keep building upon what I've been doing the last couple years. And hopefully I'll be a threat for the title. That would be very very nice."
Rising star Maya Joint is another Australian to watch after the 19-year-old has had a phenomenal couple of years after entering 2024 ranked 684th in the world, but soaring to world number 32 by the end of 2025.
Joint is guaranteed to be seeded for this year's Australian Open, meaning she won’t face off against a higher-ranked player until at least the third round, giving her a great chance to have a lengthy run in the tournament.
Other top 100 players representing Australia include women’s singles players Daria Kasatkina and Alja Tomljanovic plus men Alexei Popyrin and Adam Walton.
If you're tuning into the Australian Open action, you can watch the tournament live and free via Channel 9 and its streaming platform 9Now, while Stan Sport will also have every match live and on demand.
