Successful a profession Grand Slam (buying all 4 Majors a minimum of as soon as) is one measure of a whole tennis participant. On the 2026 Australian Open, which begins this Sunday, two gamers can have the chance to do it. Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek will probably be gunning for his or her maiden crowns in Melbourne, to go along with the six Majors every that they’ve received elsewhere. In his quest to develop into the youngest male to finish the profession Slam within the Open Period (from 1968), the World No.1 Spaniard is predicted to face a stiff take a look at from two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner. Additionally, Alcaraz’s greatest consequence Down Beneath is quarterfinals (2024 and 2025), and the 22-year-old now not has Juan Carlos Ferrero, the trusted mentor with whom he cut up from after seven rewarding years. Sinner, 24, will probably be on a mission of his personal — to develop into the one man, aside from the legendary Novak Djokovic, to clinch a hat-trick of Australian Opens within the Open Period. For Swiatek, a clay-court nice and the 2025 Wimbledon champion, the subsequent two weeks supply the possibility to additional evolve. Nevertheless, the 24-year-old will face an almighty problem from No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, with the Belarusian’s power-packed recreation and noteworthy consistency — 4 wins, three finals and 4 semifinals from her final 12 Main appearances — making her the participant to beat.
How 24-time Slam winner Djokovic fares may even be watched with curiosity. The 38-year-old, a document 10-time titlist in Australia, has not received a Main for the reason that 2023 US Open. Although he reached the semifinals in any respect Slams in 2025, he was largely uncompetitive in these contests. This version, he’s in the identical half as Sinner, to whom he has misplaced 5 matches in a row. The Serb will want a herculean effort to weaken the Alcaraz-Sinner hegemony that has swept the final eight Grand Slam tournaments. Although such dominance isn’t one thing that defines girls’s tennis, the likes of Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova have a status for repeatedly knocking on the doorways. Gauff, regardless of her seemingly restricted recreation, is a two-time Main winner, and Anisimova is available in having made each the Wimbledon and US Open finals just lately. Equally, a shocking title run, similar to American Madison Keys’s at Melbourne Park in 2025, can’t be discounted. For India, will probably be the primary Slam after doubles star Rohan Bopanna’s retirement. The nation doesn’t have an lively Main champion any extra, and will probably be a fourth straight Slam with out singles illustration. It will likely be as much as Yuki Bhambri, No. 21 in doubles, to fly the flag excessive.
Printed – January 17, 2026 12:10 am IST
