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The opening day of the Australian Open kicked off what looks set to be a thrilling fortnight of action, with several of the biggest names in men’s and women’s tennis in action.

But, while the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz, Jasmine Paolini, Alexander Zverev, and Emma Raducanu all safely made it through to the second round, some of their fellow seeded players were not so lucky.

Here, we look at the four 2026 Australian Open seeds that fell at the first hurdle of this year’s tournament, alongside some of the other notable names who exited the event.

Men’s singles — (20) Flavio Cobolli

Italian star Cobolli has the unfortunate distinction of being the only men’s singles seed to be beaten on the opening day of the tournament.

The world No 22 was considered a potential dark horse by many, after a 2025 that saw him reach the Wimbledon quarter-final, win two ATP Tour titles, and prove Italy’s hero in the Davis Cup Finals.

Cobolli was seemingly handed a favourable draw against qualifier Arthur Fery, though — with some suggestions that he was battling with illness — the Italian ultimately slumped to defeat.

World No 186 Fery barely put a foot wrong in a hugely impressive performance, with the Brit ultimately easing his way towards a 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-1 triumph.

It is the second time that Fery has reached the second round of a Grand Slam, after also beating another 20th seed — Alexei Popyrin — at Wimbledon last year, and he will face Tomas Martin Etcheverry next.

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Women’s singles — (11) Ekaterina Alexandrova

The highest women’s singles seed to fall on Sunday was 11th seed Alexandrova, whose rotten run at the Australian Open continued with her latest early exit.

Alexandrova soared up the WTA Rankings in 2025 and cracked the top 10 for the first time, with the 31-year-old reaching the fourth round of Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open.

However, having lost in the opening round of the Australian Open to Laura Siegemund in 2024 and Raducanu in 2025, the Russian was beaten in her first match for the third straight year.

It was qualifier Zeynep Sonmez who beat the world No 11, the Turkish qualifier defying the 101 places between the two to claim a battling 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 triumph.

Victory puts Sonmez into the second round of the Australian Open for the first time, and she will discover who her next opponent is on Monday.

Women’s singles — (20) Marta Kostyuk

Kostyuk beat three top-10 players on her way to the Brisbane International less than two weeks ago, and the former Australian Open quarter-finalist was backed by many for a deep run.

However, the Ukrainian ultimately fell in a historic defeat to Elsa Jacquemot, with the Frenchwoman claiming the first triple tiebreak win in Australian Open women’s singles history.

World No 60 Jacquemot rallied from a set down to stun Kostyuk 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 7-6(7) on Sunday, claiming her first-ever main draw win in Melbourne.

The Frenchwoman will go on to face Yulia Putintseva in the second round, after the Kazakh battled past Beatriz Haddad Maia in the opening round.

With Alexandrova and Kostyuk in the same mini-section of the draw, it is already guaranteed that an unseeded player will reach the second week.

Women’s singles — (26) Dayana Yastremska

Yastremska memorably reached the semi-final of the Australian Open as a qualifier back in 2024, but was unable to recapture that magic this year.

The Ukrainian is not adverse to big Grand Slam wins herself, beating Coco Gauff in the opening round of Wimbledon last summer, but was on the wrong side of an upset on Sunday.

The 26th seed was beaten by Elena-Gabriela Ruse inside Melbourne Park, with the Romanian sealing an impressive 6-4, 7-5 victory.

World No 79 Ruse will discover who she plays next later in the week, the Romanian set to take on either qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva or Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round.

Who else exited the tournament?

Technically, four seeds exited the women’s event on Sunday, with 32nd seed and former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova withdrawing from the event just one hour before her match.

Her spot in the draw was filled by lucky loser Taylor Townsend, who was ultimately beaten in three sets by compatriot Hailey Baptiste.

Another notable shock on Sunday saw world No 53 and former top-20 star Sebastian Korda stunned by reigning NCAA champion Michael Zheng, with the latter prevailing in a five-set thriller.

Venus Williams also just missed out on a seismic victory, with the 45-year-old spurning a 4-0 deciding-set lead in a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 loss to Olga Danilovic.

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Emma Raducanu kickstarted her Australian Open campaign with a confidence-boosting win over Mananchaya Sawangkaew in the opening round of action on Sunday.

Despite complaints about her late-night schedule, 28th seed Raducanu navigated a slow start to defeat her Thai rival 6-4, 6-1 and progress to the second round of the ‘Happy Slam’.

Raducanu had looked far from convincing heading into the Australian Open, with the star struggling at both the United Cup and Hobart International before her Melbourne campaign.

The Brit had also dipped in form during the closing stages of 2025, with doubts about the 23-year-old’s form and fitness still circling heading into the opening Grand Slam tournament of the year.

She was handed what appeared to be a favourable opening-round draw on paper against Sawangkaew, with the world No 195 still working her way back from injury issues she sustained midway through 2025.

The Thai stormed to an early break lead and had points for a double break, but Raducanu held firm after a slow start, battling back from 2-4 down to claim the opener.

Raducanu then brought that momentum into the second set, and two breaks of serve proved more than enough for the former US Open champion to seal victory — and move to 5-0 in opening-round matches at the Australian Open.

“I feel very happy to have come through that match,” said Raducanu, speaking on court.

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“From the beginning, I felt like she was playing incredibly well and all of her returns and shots seemed to be dropping on the baseline or an inch from, and it made life very difficult.

“I’m really proud of how I fought back in the first set — and she’s playing some incredible tennis, playing way higher than her ranking is currently, and I’m sure she’s going to do some good things this year.”

Victory is undoubtedly a key boost for the 23-year-old, who reached the third round of the Australian Open for the first time in 2025.

Raducanu has 130 ranking points to defend at the tournament, and while that may not seem like a huge chunk of points, an early defeat in Melbourne would likely mean she is ranked outside the top 30 after the tournament.

By reaching the second round, the world No 29 has defended 70 of those 130 points, providing a significant boost after a challenging start to the year, and will look to reach the third round of the event for the second straight year when she returns to court on Wednesday.

The Brit will face Anastasia Potapova in round two, with the world No 55 competing in her first Grand Slam since switching to Austrian citizenship last month.

Potapova, a former world No 21, battled past Suzan Lamens 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in her opening match inside Melbourne Park on Sunday — rallying from 5-1 down in the second set.

This will be the first career meeting between the two.

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Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash has told Tennis365 that Carlos Alcaraz may have made the biggest mistake of his career by deciding to end his partnership with long-time coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The tennis world was stunned by Alcaraz’s announcement that he was breaking away from the coach who has helped him to win six Grand Slam titles, with the comments from both camps since the split appearing to confirm their partnership will not be revived.

Now Cash has given his verdict on the split and he didn’t pull any punches as he suggested the move could come back to haunt the world No 1.

“It’s a head scratcher for me,” Cash told Tennis365. “How can you fire someone who has helped you all the way through and won those Grand Slam titles?

“More importantly, he won two of them last year. It’s not like he won just one Grand Slam final, which would still be a great result. He won two of them! And was in the final of another one.

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“Hardly a disastrous year, maybe his best year, but he fires his coach.

“We are seeing a lot of managers and agents who get into a player’s ear, think they know the best for the player and throw a seed of doubt in there, it can really destroy a relationship. I’m not saying that’s happened here. I don’t know the ins and outs of it, but I’ve seen a lot of this. Is it a mistake for Alcaraz to do this? We don’t know yet, but let’s see.”

Former world No 2 Alex Corretja also spoke to Tennis365 about the Alcaraz-Ferrero split, as he suggested the shock move could have an impact on his hopes at the Australian Open.

“I hope it won’t affect him, but we have to see what happens when he plays and does not have Juan Carlos in the box,” said Corretja, who will be part of the TNT Sports team for the Australian Open.

“The thing is, he has been with Sami Lopez in the past, he already had that combination with him last year and I feel like he is ready for this.

“He is fired up for the new season and about having the chance to play well at Melbourne because he has never won there.

“Of course, there is this big question about how he will feel, but from what I’ve heard, he’s been working so hard on improving things and he is happy to start a new season.

“I think he finished last season quite well. In the past, he finished the season tired and a bit exhausted, but the fact that he was a finalist at the ATP Finals was good.

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“Then he had this issue with Juanki, but he is ready. He got there in Melbourne a week before to get ready for the condition, so I think he’s going to be ready.

“Whatever happens in Melbourne, I’m not going to be the saying ‘oh, you see he has split up with Ferrero and now things are not going well’. I’m not this kind of person to make this kind of judgment.”

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Boris Becker believes Carlos Alcaraz will be a man under pressure at the Australian Open following his split from his long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero as he named his favourite between the Spaniard and Jannik Sinner.

For the first time in his professional career, Alcaraz won’t have Ferrero in his box at the start of a season as the two parted ways in December following seven successful years.

2003 French Open champion Ferrero mentored the rising star since the age of 15, and together they won six Grand Slams with Alcaraz becoming the youngest world No 1 in the process.

But they announced after the 2025 campaign that they had gone their separate ways without revealing what caused the split, although reports have suggested they failed to come to a new agreement about Ferrero’s compensation during contract negotiations, while others claimed there was tension between the coach and Alcaraz’s entourage.

The show must go on, though, and Alcaraz appointed Samuel Lopez, who joined his coaching team in December 2024, as his new mentor with the Australian Open their first tournament without Ferrero.

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The world No 1, who is yet to reach a final at Melbourne Park, is one of the favourites to win the title, but Becker feels two-time defending champion Sinner has an edge.

When asked if during an AS and Eurosport interview if Alcaraz can win this year’s season-opening Grand Slam, the former world No 1 replied: “Carlos is good enough to win in Melbourne this year, absolutely.

“For me, he is the most talented player in the world. I think he is more talented than Sinner, than [Alexander] Zverev. He had a fantastic 2025.

“Obviously, he was pushed very hard by Sinner. Right now, I rate them as equals. But you can see it especially in Melbourne: Sinner has won it twice and Alcaraz hasn’t yet.

“The pressure is on Alcaraz, without Ferrero by his side, to prove something. Is he good enough? Yes. Is he talented enough? Yes. Let’s talk in two weeks and see if we have a new champion in Melbourne. Today, on paper, I would say Sinner is the favourite.”

When asked about Alcaraz’s coaching set-up, Becker stated that the six-time Grand Slam winner is likely to go for a “super coach” as he named fellow great Rafael Nadal as “the dream for everyone”.

“The pressure is on Carlos, as I said. Ferrero is a great coach. Their partnership was excellent,” he said.

“I don’t think we’ll see any differences in Melbourne; he wants to show that he can win without Ferrero.

“But in March or April, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a super coach by his side. The dream for everyone would be Nadal, myself included. Ferrero knows how to win as a coach and a player, and that should not be underestimated by anyone.”

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Novak Djokovic has clarified that he has used the off-season to ‘rebuild’ his body and that his preparation for the Australian Open has been going ‘very well’ despite a physical ‘setback.’

The world No 4 is seeking to make more history in Melbourne by becoming the first person – male or female – to win 25 Grand Slam singles titles.

Djokovic was meant to have competed at the ATP 250 in Adelaide prior to the Australian Open action, but was forced to withdraw due to not being ‘quite physically ready’ for the event.

“To all my fans in Adelaide. Unfortunately I’m not quite physically ready to compete in the Adelaide International next week,” he stated on Instagram, announcing the decision.

“It’s personally very disappointing to me as I have such great memories of winning the title there [three] years ago. I was really excited about returning as it truly felt like playing at home.

“My focus is now on my preparation for the Australian Open and I look forward to arriving in Melbourne soon and seeing all the tennis fans in Australia.”

Physical issues have become more frequent over the last 18 months for the Serb, something which he was renowned for avoiding.

He underwent knee surgery in the summer of 2024, before retiring from his semi-final against Alexander Zverev at the latest edition of Australian Open.

At Wimbledon, the former world No 1 suffered a nasty slip during his last-eight match against Flavio Cobolli, impeding his ability to perform at his best in the subsequent round.

On that occasion, Djokovic argued that the discomfort was also impacted by overall ‘wear and tear’, rather than a freak accident.

However, he was able to reassure fans that the issue preventing him from playing Adelaide was just a ‘little setback’, but that his recovery has been ‘going very well.’

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“I ended up the season in the first week of November, so it’s been a while since I played any competition, any official tournament,” Djokovic later commented during the press conference.

“You know, I took some time off, and obviously took more time to rebuild my body, because I understand that in the last couple of years, that’s what changed the most for me is it takes more time to rebuild, and it also takes more time to reset or recover.

“So, unfortunately, I had a little setback that prevented me to compete at Adelaide tournament. That’s why I didn’t go there physically, but it’s been going on very well so far here.

“Obviously every day there is something here and there for me and I guess for each one of us, but generally I feel good and look forward to competing.”

Djokovic will get his Australian Open campaign underway against Spaniard Pedro Martinez, with the pair having never met on the professional tour.

The Serb’s seeding allowed him to avoid facing Jannik Sinner prior to the semi-final and Carlos Alcaraz before the showpiece match.

Indeed, whilst he hasn’t lifted a Grand Slam since the 2023 US Open, Djokovic is not yet willing to give retirement much thought and is satisfied by continuing to play nonetheless.

“I have been asked a lot about obviously when is the, you know, end date going to come for me, but, you know, I don’t want to talk or think about it yet, because I’m here, I’m competing,” he added.

“When that arrives and kind of becomes ripe in my head, I’ll share it with you, and then we can all discuss on the farewell tour.

“But right now I’m still No. 4 in the world, still competing at the highest level, and I feel like there is no need to draw the attention to that discussion.”

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Emma Raducanu has handed down a harsh criticism of the Australian Open’s ‘very difficult’ scheduling, stating that it ‘doesn’t really make much sense.’

The Brit is due to compete in her fifth edition of the season’s first Grand Slam, producing her best result with a third-round appearance in 2025 (losing to Iga Swiatek).

Prior to that, she had made three consecutive second rounds in Melbourne.

Raducanu is due to get her campaign underway against Thai Mananchaya Sawangkaew, who is ranked outside of the world’s top 200.

However, much of her press conference was taken up by her voicing dissatisfaction towards the scheduling of the encounter.

She is scheduled to play Sawangkaew in the last match of the Margaret Court Arena, after the conclusion of Alexander Bublik’s match against American Jenson Brooksby – which begins at 7pm local time.

“It’s very difficult,” Raducanu said.

“You would love to have more time in the environment, more time practising, but I guess I was pretty much handed the schedule to try and turn it around and make the most out of what is in front of me.

“I think it’s easy to get down and complain about it, but it’s not going to help. So I’m just trying to focus and turn it around for tomorrow.

“It’s very difficult to be scheduling women’s matches after a potential five-set match. To me, it doesn’t really make much sense.

“Today I’m going to practice and see what it’s like. I don’t think I have been in that situation. Only once before maybe when I played the semi-finals of the US Open.

“I played the second night match but, other than that, I haven’t played that late. So, for me, it’s a new experience, something that I need to learn to do.”

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Whilst Raducanu had a healthier 2025 than in years prior, her off-season preparation was reportedly impacted by a lingering foot issue.

She started her 2026 season with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 loss to Greek Maria Sakarri, looking short of practice and overall match fitness.

The Brit then took part in an event in Hobart, beating Camila Osorio, but falling to wildcard Taylah Preston in the quarter-finals 6-2, 6-4.

However, Raducanu was able to give a positive update about the foot discomfort and stated that it is ‘improving day by day.’

“It’s definitely a lot better,” the 2021 US Open champion revealed.

“I’ve been having to manage it for the last few months but I’m really happy with the progress that I’ve made this year.

“I came out to Australia not knowing how it would go and now I’m in a much better place and just improving day by day.

“I could easily get frustrated about not having the pre-season I wanted. I think it would only frustrate me.

“After last year being my first real year on tour, I really learned that the season is so long. I just want to try and work my way into this year.

“Obviously I want this week to go well but I know that I’m working on the right things and it will slot into place at some point.

“I started training very, very late on tennis-wise.

“So, because of that, I feel like I need to kind of take the pressure off myself and not put too much pressure on and expect to be playing amazing tennis.”

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Novak Djokovic has laid down a gauntlet ahead of the Australian Open, declaring that he can ‘beat anybody’ in the draw when at his best, including Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

The Serb has had a complicated last 24 months, reaching one Grand Slam final and five such semi-finals, but looking increasingly physically weakened towards the back end of tournaments.

2025 saw Djokovic defy age by winning titles in both Geneva and Athens, increasing his overall singles title haul to 101.

His last three Grand Slam semi-final defeats came to one of Sinner (French Open and Wimbledon) and Alcaraz (US Open), unable to clinch a set in any clash.

Since the former world No 1’s victory at the US Open in 2023, the pair have produced a dominance not too dissimilar from that during Big Three era – sharing all of the last eight Grand Slams.

Despite the hurdles, Djokovic still believes that he can give himself opportunities to compete with the world’s best, including over the next two weeks in Melbourne.

“I’m missing a little bit of juice in my legs, to be honest, to be able to compete with these guys at the later stages of a Grand Slam,” he admitted during his pre-tournament press conference.

“I lost three out of four slams against either Sinner or Alcaraz. We know how good they are, and they absolutely deserve to be where they are.

“They are the dominant forces of the men’s tennis at the moment. I’m still trying to be in the mix.

“Obviously I’m grateful to have the better ranking so that I could have eventually better draws in, you know, the first several rounds. That doesn’t affect the way I approach [a] Slam.

“You know, I know that my priority is really taking care of my body and trying to of course treat every match like it’s finals, but at the same time, build momentum and also not spend unnecessary energy, you know, and hopefully I can go far again and get a chance to play them.”

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Of course, a hypothetical victory at the Australian Open wouldn’t just break Djokovic’s drought, it would also give him the record for the most Grand Slam singles titles by any player – male or female.

The Serb is currently tied with Margaret Court on 24 titles.

Djokovic would also break the record for the oldest players to win a singles Grand Slam, with Ken Rosewall currently holding that record at 37 years and two months.

However, he has also noted that he does not want to induce any unnecessary pressure at the four biggest tournaments of the season.

“Yeah, there has been a lot of talk about the 25th, but, you know, I try to focus myself on what I have achieved, not what I’m possibly achieving,” Djokovic commented.

“I mean, I hope it comes to that, but 24 is also not a bad number. I have to appreciate that and remind myself of the amazing career I had.

“And also, you know, release some of that unnecessary pressure.

“I mean, obviously there is always pressure and expectations, but, you know, I don’t think it’s, you know, needed for me to really go far in terms of, you know, make-it-or-break-it type of thing, you know, it’s now-or-never type of mentality. I don’t feel it’s necessary.

“Neither does that allow me to excel and perform my best.

“I’m just, as I said, grateful to have another shot, particularly here, a place where I won 10 Grand Slam titles and been consistently playing well and reaching the final stages. Last couple of years also semi-finals, ’24 semi-finals, ’25. Had a great win against Carlos [Alcaraz] in quarters last year.

“Look, I know that when I’m healthy, when I’m able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together on a given day, I feel like I can beat anybody. If I don’t have that self-belief and confidence in myself, I wouldn’t be here definitely sitting here and talking to you guys or competing.

“I still have the drive, and of course I understand that, you know, [Jannik] Sinner and Alcaraz are playing on a different level right now from everybody else. That’s a fact, but that doesn’t mean that nobody else has a chance. So I like my chances always, in any tournament, particularly here.”

The 24-time Grand Slam champion has landed in Sinner’s half of the draw, meaning he cannot meet the Italian before the semi-finals, and the Spaniard before a hypothetical final.

He will get his campaign underway against Spaniard Pedro Martinez.

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Aryna Sabalenka has started 2026 as she means to go on as the world No 1 retained her Brisbane Open title against Marta Kostyuk.

She was happy, stable and played well all week, winning the tournament without dropping a set. The lack of a post-match handshake from the Ukrainian couldn’t even taint life. When everything is going well, it’s easier to be chill.

Melbourne was also the Belarusian’s happy place until Madison Keys came along 12 months ago and stopped the two-time champion’s 20-match winning streak at the venue.

It was the first of two unedifying outbursts during the 2025 WTA Tour season with the other taking place at Roland Garros a few months later.

A smashed racket courtside on Rod Laver and a tetchy comment about her losing the Paris final – rather than Coco Gauff winning it – revealed an inability to cope with extreme disappointment. She needs to recalibrate her attitude to triumph and disaster.

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Her US Open loss to Gauff in 2023 was bravely negotiated through tears and with a few well-placed jokes in front of a vociferous Arthur Ashe crowd. It’s a shame that her subsequent two reverses in Slam finals weren’t similar models of grace in defeat.

Of course, nobody’s perfect.

Sabalenka’s emotional highs and lows are essentially the bridge for fans and ordinary folk to connect. She’s human and shows it.

However, when she demonstrates unfiltered rage, it adversely affects her chances of success at the business end of the big ones.

“I think the main lesson that I learned is that no matter what, it doesn’t matter how I feel, how frustrated I am inside, I still have to try to stay calm and try to think clear, just try to focus on the plan that I have for the match. No matter what, stay in control,” the 27-year-old said at the end of last year.

She has been working through the positive channelling of her thought process with coaches Anton Dubrov and Jason Stacy.

Sabalenka has been trying to absorb the Novak Djokovic mindset, which would have been perfect at Flushing Meadows in 2023. Imagine they were cheering Aryna rather than Coco [as Djokovic imagined ‘Novak’ when he played [Roger] Federer at Wimbledon in 2019).

That might have been a difficult one to pull off for someone who wears their heart on their sleeve. However, the idea was to try to look at things as if observing from off the court rather than on it.

Compared to the constant love-in with the Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz roadshow, Gauff and Sabalenka have both had their detractors in recent weeks.

The American received significant pushback on her claim that the country’s supporters are “the worst” for travelling abroad to support their tennis stars.

Sabalenka lost a Battle of the Sexes match against Nick Kyrgios, which never reached six feet under as a spectacle. It was like having two mates pretending to care about the outcome of a friendly.

Last year’s Melbourne runner-up has shown considerable vulnerability in recent times when the big prizes are up for grabs.

She also lost her second WTA Tour final to an inspired Elena Rybakina in November. If Amanda Anisimova hadn’t become so distracted with the lights of New York, the best player in the world could have been looking at three straight Slam final losses.

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Anisimova clearly had the game to unsettle her opponent, but her elite mentality at the business end of majors is still on shaky ground.

Sabalenka is a big favourite in Australia. Iga Swiatek’s form and aura are on the ropes, and Gauff is in the hardest section of the draw.

The world No 1 has reached 11 out of the last dozen Slam semis and ended up winning four of them. It could and should be better. To truly grab the great player tag, the Belarusian has to push through the difficult moments more, something that she did well in the US Open.

At the end of 2024, the Tigress wanted to dominate the tour “like Serena did”, stating in an interview with Arab News: “I always wanted to dominate the tour like Serena [Williams] did, like Iga was able to do for so long.

“It’s really inspiring … but I’m trying to focus on myself, on improving myself, to make sure that I have all of the tools to dominate the tour as they did.”

She’s not far off. The next step must be piling up the majors now.

The post Will Aryna Sabalenka throw her toys out of the pram at Australian Open? appeared first on Tennis365.

After a disappointing end to 2025 and start to 2026, all eyes will be on how Emma Raducanu will perform at the upcoming Australian Open.

The draw gods have not been too kind to Raducanu in Melbourne, with the Brit projected to face top seed and title favourite Aryna Sabalenka as early as the third round.

However, by being the 28th seed, the Brit earned herself some level of protection in the opening stages of the event, and will kickstart her campaign against Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew. Here, we take you through all you need to know about Raducanu and Sawangkaew’s opening-round match inside Melbourne Park.

Who is Mananchaya Sawangkaew?

Currently ranked 195th in the world, Sawangkaew has used her protected ranking to enter the main draw of the Australian Open — in what will be her first-ever Grand Slam main draw appearance.

Born in Thailand in July 2002, Sawangkaew — who started playing tennis aged four — reached her career-high ranking of world No 100 in June 2025, after reaching the second round of qualifying at the French Open.

Earlier in 2025, she had also reached the biggest final of her career, with the Thai finishing runner-up to Jill Teichmann at the WTA 125 Mumbai Open last February.

After Roland Garros last summer, Sawangkaew was sidelined with injury and did not return to action until late November, when she lost in the opening round of an ITF event in Yokohama.

However, the 23-year-old then found some form representing Thailand at the SEA Games on home soil, picking up a silver medal after losing the women’s singles final to Alex Eala.

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She then followed that up with a run to the W75 ITF title in Nonthaburi last week, beating Lisa Pigato in the final to claim the fourth ITF singles title of her career.

Prior to this year’s Australian Open, Sawangkaew’s best Grand Slam result had been reaching the third round of qualifying at the 2024 US Open.

Sawangkaew is joined by compatriot Lanlana Tararudee in the main draw, making it the first Grand Slam since the 2011 US Open that two Thai players have been in women’s singles action at a major.

When will Raducanu and Sawangkaew take to court?

The opening round of action at the Australian Open is spread across three days, yet we already know when Raducanu and Sawangkaew will be in action in Melbourne.

The clash between the two women will be the second night session match inside the Margaret Court Arena on Sunday, January 18, following the men’s singles match between 10th seed Alexander Bublik and Jenson Brooksby.

This means that Raducanu and Sawangkaew can likely be expected to step onto the court around 21:00 Melbourne time, which would be 10:00 UK time, and 05:00 US East Coast time.

The winner of this match will face either Suzan Lamens or Anastasia Potapova in the second round, a match that will take place on Wednesday.

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A Supercomputer has identified the favourites to win the 2026 Australian Open singles titles, and Emma Raducanu has been given just a 0.1% chance of securing her second major.

Madison Keys and Jannik Sinner are the reigning Australian Open champions, with the year’s first Grand Slam set to begin on Sunday.

There were four different major champions in women’s tennis last season, with Coco Gauff (French Open), Iga Swiatek (Wimbledon) and Aryna Sabalenka (US Open) joining Keys.

It was a different story in the men’s game, with the dominant pair of Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz each winning two of the four Grand Slams — as they did in 2024.

What is the Australian Open Supercomputer – and how does it work?

The Australian Open Supercomputer, conducted by JeffBet, is a probability model, not determined by human predictions or bias.

It estimates the results of each round based on every player’s current strength such as experience and recent form as well as betting market odds.

The machine then simulates the remaining matches in a season 10,000 times and constructs an average league table from the 10,000 simulations, to rule out anomalous results.

What has the Supercomputer predicted for the Australian Open women’s draw?

WTA world No 1 Sabalenka won the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024 before losing the 2025 final to Keys, while No 2 Iga Swiatek is chasing a maiden title — which would see her complete the career Grand Slam.

The Supercomputer sees Sabalenka as the favourite to lift the trophy once again, with the Belarusian being given a 23.7% chance of triumph.

Swiatek is not far behind with a 19.8% chance, while world No 3 and two-time major winner Coco Gauff is the third favourite with a 16.6% likelihood of winning her first Australian Open title.

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Amanda Anisimova (8%), Elena Rybakina (6.9%) and Jessica Pegula (6.6%) are rated as the fourth, fifth and sixth favourites.

World No 9 Madison Keys has been given just a 1.7% chance of defending her crown.

Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, is seeded 28th, but she is rated as the 36th favourite with just a 0.1% likelihood of winning.

The Brit’s projected third round meeting with Sabalenka is a big factor as she has only a 9.9% chance of reaching the fourth round.

What has the Supercomputer predicted for the Australian Open men’s draw?

ATP world No 2 Sinner has secured the last two Australian Open men’s singles crowns, while top-ranked Alcaraz is aiming to win his first title at Melbourne Park, which — like Swiatek — is the only major he is missing.

Alcaraz is yet to progress beyond the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, but according to the Supercomputer, he has a 47% chance to win the title this year, making him the strong favourite.

The likelihood of Sinner claiming his third Australian Open crown has been calculated as 30.7%.

Novak Djokovic, a 10-time Australian Open winner and 24-time Grand Slam champion, is a distant third favourite with an 8.1% chance of victory.

Alexander Zverev (6%), Alex de Minaur (3.1%), Lorenzo Musetti (3%) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (3%) are the only other men given more than a 0.9% chance of winning.

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