No shortage of action Down Under as stars arrive ahead of Aussie Open
BRISBANE—If it’s a new year, it must be serious tennis time in Down Under.
Just over six weeks since the ATP and WTA held their respective 2025 Finals, players on the men’s and women’s tours are arriving in Australia and New Zealand for a crammed two-week schedule of tournaments ahead of the Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam event starting Jan. 18 in Melbourne where Filipino ace Alex Eala will be seeing action.
Leading the way is the United Cup, a mixed teams event which will be played in Perth and Sydney beginning on Friday and finishing Jan. 11. The tournament will feature four of the world’s top 10 men and women, including Coco Gauff, Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Iga Świątek, Alexander Zverev, Jasmine Paolini and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Also during the first full week of 2026, the Brisbane International will be headlined by defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, fresh off the Battle of the Sexes exhibition against Nick Kyrgios in Dubai.
But missing from the pre-Australian Open tournaments are the two biggest names in men’s tennis: No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and second-ranked Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz and Sinner, who have won nine of the last 10 Grand Slam singles titles, with Sinner winning the 2025 Australian Open, have decided to play an exhibition in Incheon, South Korea, on Jan. 10. After the exhibition, it’s expected they’ll fly to Australia to begin their preparations at Melbourne Park.
Stan’s farewell year
Alcaraz will be playing his first major in seven years without coach Juan Carlos Ferrero—the Spanish player recently announced their split. Alcaraz has not announced a replacement.
Other players at the United Cup, which begins on Friday with Greece taking on Japan in Perth, include Emma Raducanu, Naomi Osaka, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Stan Wawrinka, who has said 2026 will be his last year on tour.
The 40-year-old, three-time major winner Wawrinka says he hopes to improve on his current ranking of 157 and move back into the top 100 before he retires. His highest ranking was No. 3, achieved when he won the Australian Open in 2014.
“I’m happy with the decision (to retire) and feeling at peace with that,” Wawrinka said when he arrived earlier this week in Perth.
Joining Sabalenka at the 500-level Brisbane International will be two-time major finalist Amanda Anisimova, WTA Finals champion Elena Rybakina, reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva.
The 18-year-old Andreeva is tipped to be the next big thing in women’s tennis and she could renew her rivalry with Sabalenka in Brisbane.
