The six players who have been handed wildcards into the Australian Open 2026 already

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Six ATP and WTA players have already been confirmed to play the Australian Open next year.

Players are already making plans ahead of the Australian Open, with Coco Gauff already confirming her first tournament of the 2026 season.

While Gauff is already confirmed to play the Australian Open as the world number three, other players require wildcards as their ranking is not high enough to secure direct entry.

The daughter of a four-time Grand Slam champion, Elizabeth Mandlik, had already secured an Australian Open wildcard, and she has been joined by five other players.

The first six wildcards for the Australian Open have been confirmed

Both Americans Mandlik and ATP player Patrick Kypson were the first two wildcards to be confirmed for the 2026 Australian Open, as they topped the USTA’s ranking points challenge.

It will be Mandlik’s first Grand Slam main draw appearance since the 2023 French Open, while Kypson still seeks his first win at a major tournament.

Mandlik and Kypson were part of the Australia-USA reciprocal wildcard system in place, and there are also two available from the winners of the Asia-Pacific wildcard tournament.

Coming out on top in this was former world number 31 and title winner Zarina Diyas, who beat En-Shuo Liang in the final to secure her first Grand Slam main draw appearance since the 2022 Australian Open.

Diyas has reached the third round of the Australian Open before, and the fourth round of Wimbledon, and could be a threat as she continues to make her way back up the rankings after a lengthy injury absence.

The ATP winner of the Asia-Pacific wildcard was Yunchaokete Bu, the Chinese player who has wins over Stefanos Tsitsipas and Cameron Norrie this year.

Bu reached a career-high ranking of world number 64 earlier this year, but has since slipped outside the top 100.

However, after earning a wildcard for the Australian Open, Bu will now look to win his first Grand Slam main draw match at the sixth attempt.

It is expected that the majority of the Australian Open wildcards will be handed out to players from Australia, and the first of those two were confirmed after the conclusion of the Australian Pro Tour Wildcard Points Race, which took place over three tournaments in Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide.

These wildcards were won by former top 50 ATP player James Duckworth and former junior number one Emerson Jones.

Duckworth will be making his 13th Australian Open main draw appearance next year, while for 17-year-old Jones this will be just her second.

Jones made her professional Grand Slam main draw debut at the Australian Open earlier this year, but she fell to a heavy first round defeat against Elena Rybakina.

With the first six wildcards being announced, there are still 10 to be confirmed (five ATP and five WTA).

Big names who could be forced to play Australian Open qualifying

While some players have already confirmed their participation in the Australian Open next year via their ranking or a wildcard, other big names are set to have to come through qualifying.

Stan Wawrinka, who has admitted he is near retiring, has received a wildcard for the ATP 250 tournament in Auckland, but is yet to have confirmed an Australian Open wildcard.

However, as a former champion the Swiss looks set to have a good chance at receiving one of the five remaining for ATP players.

Some of the other ATP players who are currently not ranked high enough to get into the main draw include 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori, former Masters 1000 champion Borna Coric, former top 10 player David Goffin and Nicolas Jarry.

Goffin beat Carlos Alcaraz at the Miami Open earlier this year, but other results mean he has dropped outside the top 100.

While on the WTA Tour, players including Victoria Azarenka, Taylor Townsend, Katie Boulter, Lucia Bronzetti and Mayar Sherif are all currently ranked outside the direct entry places for the Australian Open.

The most likely player to receive a wildcard for the Australian Open out of these five players is two-time champion Azarenka, but the former world number one has not played a match since the US Open.

Townsend had an impressive run at the US Open, but has struggled to show the same kind of form since then and is the world number 117.

The main draw of the Australian Open gets underway on Sunday, January 18, with qualifying taking place earlier that week.