Published: January 14, 2026 at 12:14 pm
Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka are the top seeds for the Australian Open 2026, headlining the men’s and women’s singles main draws.
Two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner is the men’s second seed. The seeding position ensures that, should he and Alcaraz keep winning, they can only meet in the final. Should that meeting occur, it would be the fourth consecutive Grand Slam final featuring the Italian and the Spaniard, and their first clash at the Australian Open.
Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff are the top three seeds in the women’s draw for the second consecutive year. Last year at Melbourne Park, Sabalenka and Swiatek were one point away from facing off in a No.1 v No.2 final, a match-up that remains a possibility in 2026 given their top two seeding positions.
The player who prevented that scenario in 2025 was Madison Keys, who saved match point to stun Swiatek in the semifinals, then upset two-time defending champion Sabalenka in the final, in a fairytale run to her first Grand Slam title.
Aryna Sabalenka will look to do better than last year where she finished runners-up to Madison Keys
Keys returns as the defending champion and the No.9 seed, one of four American women among the top 10 seeds.
Alexander Zverev is the third seed – marking the second straight year he, Alcaraz and Sinner make up the top three seeds – while 10-time champion Novak Djokovic begins his 21st Australian Open campaign as the No.4 seed.
Newly minted top five player Lorenzo Musetti rounds out the top five men’s seeds.
Seeded sixth is Alex de Minaur, making him the highest-seeded Australian in Australian Open men’s singles in 20 years, while marking his third straight year as a top 10 seed.
On the women’s side, 30th seed Maya Joint is the first Australian woman to be seeded since Ash Barty won the title in 2022 as the top seed.
Also seeded are other Grand Slam champions including Elena Rybakina (5), Naomi Osaka – who secured a notable top 16 seed – Jelena Ostapenko (24), Sofia Kenin (27), Emma Raducanu (28) and Marketa Vondrousova (32).
On the men’s side, 2021 US Open champion and last week’s Brisbane winner Daniil Medvedev – a three-time finalist – is the only seeded player outside the top four to have won a major.
