The 2026 Australian Open is now underway, with many favorites already into the second round of the Grand Slam.
ATP number one Carlos Alcaraz won his Australian Open first round match against Adam Walton, with defending champion Jannik Sinner yet to begin his campaign.
WTA number one Aryna Sabalenka won her Australian Open opener too, while defending champion Madison Keys hasn’t played her first match yet.
Meanwhile, the likes of Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova and home favorite Alex de Minaur are safely into round two of the Australian Open.
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Jim Courier and Lindsay Davenport disagree over Australian Open champions
Naming her favorites to win the tournament in Melbourne, Lindsay Davenport said on Tennis Channel: “I think I’m going to just go straight down the line.
“Go Sinner, go Sabalenka. They’ve been the best players here at Melbourne Park the last three, four years or so.
“There’s nothing in Sabalenka’s form that would lead me to believe otherwise. Sinner, so good on hard court. So I think I’m playing it safe.”
And her fellow legend Jim Courier said: “I’ve got two athletes doing something at a very young age that is really rare in this sport.
“I’ve got a double career Slam happening here. Iga Swiatek completing her set of all the majors and Carlos Alcaraz echoing that a day later, that’s what I’m thinking.”
Lindsay Davenport impressed by Carlos Alcaraz’s Australian Open start
Both Swiatek and Alcaraz are six-time Grand Slam champions, but need an Australian Open title for the career Grand Slam.
And aged just 22, Alcaraz would be the youngest man to achieve the feat, although he is chasing success without Juan Carlos Ferrero.
The ATP number one won all six of his Grand Slam titles with his former coach by his side, but Davenport isn’t too worried about his absence at this stage of the event.
She said on Tennis Channel: “It’s his first match in quite some time. He was excited to get out there, he loves the big show, had an Aussie crowd as well so it’s a little bit more interest.
“It was a perfect start for him. I don’t think we can read too much into it until maybe the level of opponent on the other side goes up a little bit.
“Maybe there’s a little more tension, when he needed to play better, he did, in that tiebreak set. So I think just really a perfect start to this Aussie Open for Carlos.”
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And Martina Navratilova added: “Clicking on all cylinders. Won 67 per cent on his second serve points. So he’s going bigger, but making it.
“So I think he should be pretty happy with it, even though he wasn’t that thrilled with his touch. Really? The drop shots he hit? Oh my god we can only dream about that.”
After beating Walton 6-3, 7-6(7-2), 6-2, Alcaraz takes on Yannick Hanfmann next in Melbourne, while Swiatek meets Yue Yuan in her opener.
Incidentally, Sinner, who starts against Hugo Gaston, needs only the French Open title to complete the career Grand Slam as well.
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