Day 1 of the 2026 Australian Open starts on Sunday, with some top names scheduled to play, including the No. 1 seeds, Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka. Alcaraz is still looking for his maiden Grand Slam title down under, while his contemporary in women’s singles, Sabalenka, has already won consecutive titles at Melbourne Park in 2023 and 2024.
In this article, we aim to predict all the winners on Day 1 of the main draw across all the show courts. It will not just be the top seeds from men’s and women’s singles, but also some other big names who will be kickstarting their journey at the Australian Open tomorrow.
Australian Open 2026 Day 1 Predictions: Projected Winners From Every Showcourt
At Rod Laver Arena:
There are four games scheduled for the Rod Laver Arena, with Jasmine Paolini kicking off the proceedings against Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Expect the Italian to breeze past the qualifier in straight sets. Alexander Zverev will be playing next, and I expect him to tough it out against the Canadian Gabriel Diallo in four sets.
The night session at the Rod Laver Arena will feature Sabalenka against a French wildcard and then Alcaraz against homeboy Adam Walton. Expect the No. 1 seeds to make light work of their opponents and move to the next round with a dominant straight-sets victory.
At Margaret Court Arena:
In-form Maria Sakkari is expected to win her match in straight sets against the unseeded Frenchwoman Leolia Jeanjean. Francisco Cerundolo will be next on court and could face a test against unseeded Zhang but could win the tie in four sets.
Up next, Alexander Bublik should have it easy against American Jenson Brooksby, and finally, the young Brit Emma Raducanu should get past her Thai counterpart Sawangkaew with relative ease.
At John Cain Arena:
Italian Flavio Cobolli should cruise towards a straight-sets win over qualifier Arthur Fery. Then, ASB Classic champion Elina Svitolina takes on Spaniard Cristina Bucsa. Expect the match to go the distance, with the Ukrainian winning it in the end.
Next, Frances Tiafoe should win his match against Australian qualifier Jason Kubler in four sets. And finally, wildcard veteran Venus Williams could be looking at the exit gates against Olga Danilovic.
At Kia Arena:
Homegirl and wildcard Talia Gibson will go down against Anna Blinkova. Corentin Moutet was expected to get past another Aussie, Tristan Schoolkate, in four or five sets.
Sebastian Korda to make light work of countryman Michael Zheng. Finally, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova might beat qualifier Zhuoxuan Bai in straight sets.
At 1573 Arena:
Etcheverry and Kecmanovic will go the distance, with the Serb winning the match in the end. Ekaterina Alexandrova might breeze past qualifier Zeynep Sonmez in straight sets, and finally Cameron Norrie has a high possibility of beating Benjamin Bonzi in a maximum of four sets.
At ANZ Arena:
Dayana Yastremska is expected to win her match against Elena-Gabriela Ruse in two sets. Similarly, Marta Kostyuk expected to dispatch Jacquemot in straight sets. Lastly, Marton Fucsovics has a stronger chance of beating Camilo Ugo Carabelli in four sets, and Suzan Lamens might do the same to Potapova in three sets.
Other Predicted Winners
At Court 6:
Beatriz Haddad Maia might beat Yulia Putintseva in three sets, Emilio Nava has a stronger chance of winning against Kyrian Jacquet in four, and Yannick Hanfmann might defeat Zachary Svajda in three sets.
At Court 7:
Francisco Comesana might beat Wild Card Patrick Kypson in straight sets, and Polina Kudermetova will be focusing on winning against Zuleta de Reales in two.
At Court 8:
Caty McNally expected to beat qualifier Himeno Sakatsume in three sets, and Damir Dzumhur expected to beat Liam Drax in four.
At Court 13:
Marketa Vondrousova has higher chances of beating Hailey Baptiste in straight sets, and Jaime Faria might take home the win against Alexander Blockx in four.
Also read:
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