The tennis season is just beginning, and the first Grand Slam tournament of this year is already ahead of us – the Australian Open, in which we will see an exceptionally large number of Polish women. It is true that the favorite will be the ranking leader – Aryna Sabalenka, who has already entered the final three times in a row, and Iga Świątek is not looking good at the beginning of the season, but we can also count on Magdalena Fręch, who looks good in the Australian courts, in the tournament.

WTA Australian Open 2026 schedule

The tournament in Melbourne will start on Sunday, January 18, and end on Saturday, January 31, 2026, when the final of this tournament will be played on a hard surface. The full schedule is as follows:

• Round 1: January 18-20, 2026 (Sunday – Tuesday)

• Round 2: January 21-22, 2026 (Wednesday – Thursday)
• Round 3: January 23-24, 2026 (Friday – Saturday)
• Round 4: January 25-26, 2026 (Sunday – Monday)
• Quarter-finals: January 27-28, 2026 (Tuesday – Wednesday)
• Women’s semi-finals: 29 January 2026 (Thursday)
• Women’s final: 31 January 2026 (Saturday)

Who will play in the 2026 WTA Australian Open tournament?

Of course, the best players in the world will play in the tournament, because nobody loses Grand Slam tournaments. Only those players who have health problems will not take part in the tournament. The highest players who will not play in Melbourne are the Chinese Qinwen Zheng in 25th place, Veronika Kudermetova in 32nd and the French Lois Boisson in 36th.

WTA Australian Open 2026: which Polish woman will play?

Up to four Polish women will make unexpected appearances at the Australian Open. The second racket in the world – Iga Świątek, Magdalena Fręch and Magda Linette were guaranteed a place in the main ladder. Three other Polish women took part in the qualifications. Katarzyna Kawa was eliminated in the first round, Maja Chwalińska in the qualifying final, but Linda Klimovicova joined the main ladder with a throw on the tape.

WTA Australian Open 2026: brackets

The bracket draw took place on Thursday, January 15, 2026. The full tournament bracket is as follows:

round 1

• Aryna Sabalenka – Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah 2-0
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – Zhuoxuan Bai 1-2
• Suzan Lamens – Anastasia Potapova 1-2
• Mananchaya Sawangkaew – Emma Raducanu 0-2
• Victoria Mboko – Francesca Jones 2-0
• Caty McNally – Himeno Sakatsume 2-0
• Veronika Kudermetova – Guiomar Maristany 2-0
• Dalma Gálfi – Clara Tauson 0-2
• Ekaterina Alexandrova – Zeynep Sönmez 1-2
• Anna Bondár – Elizabeth Mandlik 2-0
• Yulia putentseva – Beatriz Handad Maia 2-1
• Elsa Jacquemot – Marta Kostyuk 2-1
• Yes Jovic – Katie Volynets 2-0
• Priscilla Hon – Marina Stakusic 1-1 (Stakusic conceded the match)
• Veronika Erjavec – Magdalena Fręch 0-2
• Aliaksandra Sasnovich – Jasmine Paolini 0-2
• Coco Gauff – Kamilla Rakhimova 2-0
• Olga Danilovic – Venus Williams 2-1
• Storm Hunter – Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro 2-0
• Hailey Baptiste – Taylor Townsend 2-1
• Karolína Muchová – Jaqueline Cristian 2-0
• Alycia Parks – Alexandra Eala 2-1
• Ann Li – Camila Osorio 2-1
• Magda Linette – Emma Navarro 2-1
• Elina Svitolina – Cristina Bucșa 2-0
• Linda Klimovičová – Francesca Jones 1-0 (Jones gave up the match)
• Talia Gibson – Anna Blinkova 2-0
• Barbora Krejčíková – Diana Shnaider 1-2
• Dayana Yastremska – Elena-Gabriela Ruse 0-2
• Yuliia Starodubtseva – Ajla Tomljanović 1-2
• Maria Sakkari – Léolia Jeanjean 2-0
• Donna Vekić – Mirra Andreeva 1-2
• Jessica Pegula – Anastasia Zakharova 2-0
• Emiliana Arango – McCartney Kessler 0-2
• Oksana Selekhmeteva – Ella Seidel 2-1
• Physiologically – Paula 0-2
• Leylah Fernandez – Janice Tjen 0-2
• Karolina Pliskova – Sloane Stephens 2-0
• Ashlyn Krueger – Sára Bejlek 2-0
• Oleksandra Oliynykova – Madison Keys 0-2
• Linda Nosková – Darja Semenistaja 2-0
• Shuai Zhang – Taylah Preston 1-2
• Xinyu Wang – Anhelina Kalinina 2-0
• Rebecca Šramková – Jelena Ostapenko 0-2
• Sofia Kenin – Peyton Stearns 0-2
• Petra Marčinko – Tatjana Maria 2-0
• Panna Udvardy – Kateřina Siniaková 0-2
• Simona Waltert – Amanda Anisimova 0-2
• Elena Rybakina – Kaja Juvan 2-0
• Varvara Gracheva – Viktorija Golubic 2-1
• Lulu Sun – Linda Fruhvirtová 0-2
• Tereza Valentová – Maya Joint 2-0
• Elise Mertents – the Floce of Tararude 2-0
• Solana Sierra – Moyuka Uchijima 0-2
• Daria Kasatkina – Nikola Bartůňková 1-2
• Katie Boulter – Belinda Bencic 0-2
• Naomi Osaka – Antonia Ružić 2-1
• Sorana Cîrstea – Eva Lys 2-1
• Maddison Inglis – Kimberly Birrell 2-1
• Laura Siegemund – Ludmilla Samsonova 2-1
• Anna Kalinskaya – Sonay Kartal 2-0
• Julia Grabher – Elisabetta Cocciaretto 2-1
• Renata Zarazua – Marie Bouzková 0-2
• Yue Yuan – Iga Świątek 0-2
  

2 rounds

• Aryna Sabalenka – Zhuoxuan Bai 2-0
• Anastasia Potapova – Emma Raducanu 2-0
• Victoria Mboko – Caty McNally 2-0
• Veronika Kudermetova – Clara Tauson 1-2
• Zeynep Sönmez – Anna Bondár 2-0
• Yulia Putintseva – Elsa Jacquemot 2-0
• Yes Jovic – Marina Stakusic
• Magdalena Fręch – Jasmine Paolini
• Coco Gauff – Olga Danilovic 2-0
• Storm Hunter – Hailey Baptiste 0-2
• Karolína Muchová – Alycia Parks
• Ann Li – Magda Linette
• Elina Svitolina – Linda Klimovičová 2-0
• Talia Gibson – Diana Schneider 1-2
• Elena-Gabriela Ruse – Ajla Tomljanović
• Maria Sakkari – Mirra Andreeva
• Jessica Pegula – McCartney Kessler
• Oksana Selekhmeteva – Paula Badosa
• Janice Tjen – Karolína Plíšková
• Ashlyn Krueger – Madison Keys
• Linda Nosko – Taylah Preston
• Xinyu Wang – Jelena Ostapenko
• Peyton Stearns – Petra Marchinko
• Kateřina Siniaková – Amanda Anisimova
• Elena Rybakina – Varvara Gracheva
• Linda Fruhvirtová – Tereza Valentová
• Elise Mertens – Moyuka Uchijima
• Nikola Bartůňková – Belinda Bencic
• Naomi Osaka – Sorana Cîrstea
• Maddison Inglis – Laura Siegemund
• Anna Kalinskaya – Julia Grabher
• Marie Bouzková – Iga Świątek

WTA Australian Open 2026 prize pool

The prize in the tournament is as much as 111.5 million Australian dollars, or more than PLN 270 million. Points and financial prizes for subsequent rounds are as follows:

• Winner: 2,000 points – $2,793,365
• Finalist: 1,300 points – $1,447,165
• Semifinalist: 800 points – $841,375
• Quarterfinalist: 400 points – $504,825
• Round 4: 200 points – $323,088
• Round 3: 100 points – $220,609
• Round 2: 50 points – $151,448
• Round 1: 10 points – $100,965

WTA Australian Open 2026: where to watch?

The tournament will be available on Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2, and online on Player and Polsat Box Go. It will start on Sunday, January 18, and end on Saturday, January 31, 2026.