Tennis fans predict who will win the 2026 Australian Open, their picks may surprise you

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The 2026 Australian Open is right around the corner, as the stars of men’s and women’s tennis prepare to battle it out Down Under.

In 2025, Jannik Sinner and Madison Keys won the Australian Open titles, beating Alexander Zverev and Aryna Sabalenka in the respective finals.

But who will emerge victorious in 2026?

Who is your dark horse for the 2026 Australian Open?

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We asked The Tennis Gazette readers to predict who will win the 2026 Australian Open on TalkingPoints and received over 7,500 votes.

Here are their picks…

Tennis fans predict someone other than Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff to win

We gave TalkingPoints users four options: Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, and ‘Other’.

To our surprise, ‘Other’ won the largest share of the vote (34.2%) ahead of Sabalenka (30.62%), Swiatek (18.52%), and Gauff (16.66%).

Perhaps ‘Other’ isn’t that surprising a pick, considering neither Sabalenka, Swiatek, nor Gauff won in 2025, but who do our readers believe will win this time around?

Several commenters named Elena Rybakina as their champion-elect.

“Rybakina for the Grand Slam,” said one fan.

“Rybakina,” added others.

The 2022 Wimbledon champion won the WTA Finals last November, beating Swiatek and Sabalenka in Riyadh.

If she can carry that form through to the first Grand Slam of 2026, then there’s no reason why she can’t double her major tally.

But how does Rybakina’s Australian Open record stack up to the other contenders?

Despite reaching the 2023 Australian Open final, Rybakina has a worse record in Melbourne than the three big contenders.

Whether she can improve upon that record in 2026 remains to be seen…

Jannik Sinner is expected to defend his Australian Open title

It isn’t hard to imagine who tennis fans picked to win the men’s singles title.

Two-time defending champion Sinner is expected to go back-to-back-to-back on Rod Laver Arena.

The Italian won the largest share of the vote (47.11%), ahead of his big rival Carlos Alcaraz (30.73%), Novak Djokovic (15.64%), and ‘Other’ (6.52%).

Highlighting the differences between the men’s and women’s game, only 299 fans (6.52%) predicted anyone other than Alcaraz, Sinner, and Djokovic to win the Australian Open.

Sinner is certainly the favorite, but how have the trio performed Down Under throughout their careers?

Of the three, it’s Djokovic who has played the best Down Under.

The Serb has won a record 10 Australian Open titles, picking up 99 career wins at the tournament.

To see just 15.64% backing him to lift the trophy in 2026 is surprising to say the least.

Perhaps our readers have resigned themselves to another year of Alcaraz/Sinner dominance at the Grand Slam level.

In 2024 and 2025, the world’s number one and two won all eight available Grand Slam titles.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s Grand Slam streak

• 2023 US Open – Novak Djokovic
• 2024 Australian Open – Jannik Sinner
• 2024 French Open – Carlos Alcaraz
• 2024 Wimbledon – Carlos Alcaraz
• 2024 US Open – Jannik Sinner
• 2025 Australian Open – Jannik Sinner
• 2025 French Open – Carlos Alcaraz
• 2025 Wimbledon – Jannik Sinner
• 2025 US Open – Carlos Alcaraz
• 2026 Australian Open – TBD

The last different player to win a major was Djokovic at the 2023 US Open.

Only time will tell if he can return to the top of men’s tennis and win the elusive 25th Grand Slam title this year.

The 2026 Australian Open tournament is scheduled to begin on Sunday, January 18.