Winning a career Grand Slam (acquiring all four Majors at least once) is one measure of a complete tennis player. At the 2026 Australian Open, which begins this Sunday, two players will have the opportunity to do it. Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek will be gunning for their maiden crowns in Melbourne, to go with the six Majors each that they have won elsewhere. In his quest to become the youngest male to complete the career Slam in the Open Era (from 1968), the World No.1 Spaniard is expected to face a stiff test from two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner. Also, Alcaraz’s best result Down Under is quarterfinals (2024 and 2025), and the 22-year-old no longer has Juan Carlos Ferrero, the trusted mentor with whom he split from after seven rewarding years. Sinner, 24, will be on a mission of his own — to become the only man, apart from the legendary Novak Djokovic, to clinch a hat-trick of Australian Opens in the Open Era. For Swiatek, a clay-court great and the 2025 Wimbledon champion, the next two weeks offer the chance to further evolve. However, the 24-year-old will face an almighty challenge from No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, with the Belarusian’s power-packed game and remarkable consistency — four wins, three finals and four semifinals from her last 12 Major appearances — making her the player to beat.
How 24-time Slam winner Djokovic fares will also be watched with interest. The 38-year-old, a record 10-time titlist in Australia, has not won a Major since the 2023 US Open. Though he reached the semifinals at all Slams in 2025, he was largely uncompetitive in those contests. This edition, he is in the same half as Sinner, to whom he has lost five matches in a row. The Serb will need a herculean effort to weaken the Alcaraz-Sinner hegemony that has swept the last eight Grand Slam tournaments. Though such dominance is not something that defines women’s tennis, the likes of Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova have a reputation for repeatedly knocking on the doors. Gauff, despite her seemingly limited game, is a two-time Major winner, and Anisimova comes in having made both the Wimbledon and US Open finals recently. Equally, a surprising title run, such as American Madison Keys’s at Melbourne Park in 2025, cannot be discounted. For India, it will be the first Slam after doubles star Rohan Bopanna’s retirement. The nation does not have an active Major champion any more, and it will be a fourth straight Slam without singles representation. It will be up to Yuki Bhambri, No. 21 in doubles, to fly the flag high.
Published – January 17, 2026 12:10 am IST