Tennis season Down Under is officially underway and the courts are buzzing with purpose and sunscreen.
Just weeks after the season-ending ATP and WTA finals, players are arriving across Australia and New Zealand for a compressed two-week sprint of mixed team events, warm-up tournaments and exhibitions that will shape last-minute form before the Australian Open begins Jan. 18 in Melbourne.
Tournaments Lighting Up The Calendar
“I’m happy with the decision (to retire) and feeling at peace with that,”
Stan Wawrinka
The United Cup, a mixed teams event, opens in Perth and Sydney and runs through Jan. 11, offering national bragging rights plus meaningful match play before the majors begin; it will start with Greece taking on Japan in Perth and promises an electric atmosphere.
The United Cup field reads like a highlight reel: Coco Gauff, Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Iga Świątek, Alexander Zverev, Jasmine Paolini and Felix Auger-Aliassime among others, with the event showcasing four of the world’s top 10 men and women and plenty of headline clashes.
Brisbane International sits in the first full week and brings defending champion Aryna Sabalenka to the front pages after her Dubai exhibition against Nick Kyrgios, while the draw also includes a mix of established stars and hungry young contenders ready to test their pre-Grand Slam legs.
At Brisbane the field includes Amanda Anisimova, Elena Rybakina, Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva, the 18-year-old Russian widely viewed as the next big thing after deep runs at majors and a standout Indian Wells title that shifted her stock upward.
Not everyone will be in the usual warm-ups. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, the top two men in the world, have opted out of many lead-up events and instead will play an exhibition in Incheon, South Korea on Jan. 10 before heading to Melbourne to begin their final preparations.
The dominance is hard to ignore: the pair have won nine of the last 10 Grand Slam singles titles, with Sinner taking the 2025 Australian Open, so their exhibition choice draws almost as much attention as their official match entries once they land in Australia.
Stars, Stories And Farewells
Alcaraz arrives at the start of the year in uncharted territory after parting ways with longtime coach Juan Carlos Ferrero; the Spaniard has not announced a replacement and will approach his first major in seven years without Ferrero in his box.
Stan Wawrinka has declared 2026 will be his final year on tour and is treating it like a farewell tour with purpose; the Swiss veteran has pedigree and personality and aims to enjoy the ride while chasing one last notable climb in the rankings.
The 40-year-old, three-time major winner told media he hopes to move from his current ranking of 157 back into the top 100 before retiring, a tall order for a player whose career high was No. 3 following his 2014 Australian Open triumph.
Andreeva has not been shy about the bigger narratives. “Maybe the rivalry (with Sabalenka) is a little bit there but she is leading … unfortunately … for now,” Andreeva told Australian Associated Press this week, then added that winning Indian Wells was a milestone that boosted her belief.
Rules, Warmups And What To Watch
The joint ATP-WTA Adelaide International runs Jan. 12-17 and is stacked with marquee names including Novak Djokovic, while Hobart stages a WTA 250 and Auckland operates a split-week schedule that keeps players busy and local fans well fed with tennis.
Auckland will host a WTA tournament from Jan. 5-11 before the ATP follows from Jan. 12-17, and several exhibitions are sprinkled into the build-up, including an early Kooyong event featuring Nick Kyrgios and Frances Tiafoe several days before the Australian Open starts.
Hong Kong is the only warm-up event being played outside Australia and New Zealand, with an ATP tournament from Jan. 5-11 that gives a handful of players an alternative entry point and a different travel pattern to consider before the main fortnight begins.
The ATP is also rolling out a heat policy for 2026 to address extreme conditions, allowing 10-minute breaks during best-of-three-set singles matches; the measure is similar to the long-standing WTA protections and could influence match strategy on hot days.
Between team events, stacked 500s and 250s, exhibitions and a new heat rule, the two-week warm-up will be a concentrated test of fitness and tactics, and players will need to balance match practice with rest if they are serious about Grand Slam glory.
Expect narratives to build fast: young stars seeking big breakthroughs, veterans polishing final acts, and the top men plotting a careful entrance to Melbourne after exhibition play, all while fans and pundits try to predict who will peak at the right moment.
For anyone who likes storylines and unpredictability, the pre-Australian Open weeks provide a bingeable schedule of tennis that often tells you almost as much about form as the first rounds in Melbourne will a few days later.
Join the conversation on Facebook.
Christoph Friedrich is a German tennis player and coach currently residing in Oakland, California. He began his tennis journey at the age of eight and has since dedicated his life to the sport. After working as a tennis coach and hitting partner in New York City for eight years, Christoph decided to share his knowledge and experience with tennis players around the world by creating the My Tennis Expert blog. His goal is to make tennis education accessible to everyone and help players select the best equipment for their game, from racquets and strings to shoes and overgrips. Christoph's extensive research and expertise in tennis technology make him a valuable resource for players of all levels.
