2026 Australian Open Men's Singles Entry List: Alcaraz, Sinner, Djokovic & more

The entry list for the first Grand Slam tournament of the 2026 season, the Australian Open, has been released, and as always, there is a lot to look forward to.

Every season, the best tennis players in the world kick off their season Down Under at the so-called Happy Slam. The Australian Open is the first major tournament of the season, and in 2026 it will run from January 18th to February 1st, with qualifying starting on January 12th.

As every year, players will be looking to capitalize on their off-season preparation and snatch the first major trophy of the year, but some won't be able to compete in Melbourne, Australia, due to injuries.

In 2026, there will be one such notable absence. Holger Rune suffered a career-altering injury at the 2025 Stockholm Open, which means he will miss the opening Grand Slam of the season, and probably also some other tournaments. However, he is the only player from the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings who currently doesn't appear on the entry list.

The top favorites at the 2026 Australian Open will be quite obvious. Jannik Sinner has won the tournament in the past two seasons, but there will be at least one man trying to challenge him.

Carlos Alcaraz has won every Grand Slam title apart from the one in Melbourne, so he will be motivated to end Sinner's reign Down Under. The two rivals will be the top two seeds in the Australian Open draw.

Apart from the two huge favorites, many players will feel they have a chance to win the Australian Open. Despite his struggles to beat the new "Big Two," Novak Djokovic will believe he is one of them.

The legendary Serbian has won the Australian Open 10 times. If there was some place where he should lift his 25th major title, it's undoubtedly Melbourne, despite his rocky past with Australia, due to the COVID-19 saga and his deportation. Apart from Djokovic and Sinner, there will be no other former champions in the draw.

That means, unless one of those two wins it, there might be a new champion crowned at the Australian Open. If it won't be Sinner or Djokovic, and Alcaraz isn't the new champion either, the list of challengers is very long.

Alexander Zverev has been waiting for his first Grand Slam title for over a decade now, and he even played the 2025 Australian Open final. Daniil Medvedev, on the other hand, is already a Grand Slam champion, having won the US Open, but he is also a former Australian Open finalist. Both of them will want to challenge for the title Down Under.

Apart from these two players, there is a whole generation of new names who will want to challenge for the beautiful Norman Brookes Challenge Cup. Felix Auger-Aliassime, Lorenzo Musetti, Ben Shelton, Jack Draper, and even the likes of Jakub Mensik and Joao Fonseca will all believe they have what it takes to win their first Grand Slam title.