Australian Open 2026: Top contenders for men’s singles title

With the new tennis season about to get underway, we are set to witness the first grand slam of the year – the 2026 Australian Open. 

Last year, the Slam at Melbourne Park witnessed a record crowd turnout both in the men’s and women’s categories. The Men’s Singles final was played between defending Champion Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev with Sinner retaining his crown in an emphatic manner winning the final in straight sets. 

The new season will bring new challenges for all players. What will be more interesting to see though is if there are players who can get close to the two best Men’s players in the world or this new season will remain a two-horse race yet again.  

Here, we present to you our top five picks for the 2026 Australian Open Men’s Singles title. 

Jannik Sinner 

Two-time Australian Open champion and the defending champion, current World No. 2 Jannik Sinner will yet again be the favourite at Melbourne Park. Though he lost to Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open where he was the undeniable favourite, he made up for it with a title win at the year-ending Nitto ATP Finals getting the better of his arch-nemesis in Turin. 

Sinner’s record on the hard courts over the past few years have been quite phenomenal and even with off-court issues troubling the Italian in the first half of the season, he showed incredible mental fortitude to win two grand slams and the year-ending Nitto ATP Finals, capping off another successful year. The additional advantage for Sinner is the coaching stability as his coach Darren Cahill has decided to continue with Sinner in 2026 after having decided earlier to leave at the end of 2025. 

Over the past few years, Sinner has made the hard courts at Melbourne Park feel like home and therefore, the Italian remains our prime contender to take the Australian Open Singles title home yet again. 

Carlos Alcaraz 

The current World No. 1 ended the 2025 season on a high – two grand slam titles, three ATP Masters 1000 titles and a final appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals. In doing so, he also defended his French Open Crown and defeated Jannik Sinner on the hard courts of the US Open which would have boosted his confidence for the Australian Open. 

However, Alcaraz parted ways with his long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero in December which raised quite a few eyebrows. This could lead to Alcaraz being a little shaky early on in the tournament but we are also aware about his powers of recovery. 

This is also the one Grand Slam title missing from his already burgeoning kitty and one that will complete his career Grand Slam – an added motivation to go all out. If Alcaraz reaches the final this time around, he has every chance to take his first Australian Open title home.  

Alexander Zverev 

Alexander Zverev has won most big tournaments in tennis to prove his prodigious talent barring the one that is the absolute pinnacle of tennis – a Grand Slam Singles trophy. However, Zverev went one better last year making it to the Australian Open Men’s Singles final. Though he came up against an inspired Jannik Sinner who demolished him in straight sets to defend his Men’s Singles crown. 

Zverev does possess the game to beat anyone, its just his mentality that maybe needs an uplift to cross the finishing line. He has even defeated Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 Australian Open quarter-finals. 

In the last two years, he has reached the semi-final and the final of the Happy Slam exhibiting his improvement and progression at the tournament and hence, he is another strong contender for the Men’s Singles title at Melbourne Park. 

Novak Djokovic 

When talking about the contenders for the title, the ten-time Australian Open champion simply cannot be ignored. Even though he has not reached a grand slam final since the 2024 Wimbledon final, Djokovic is still the third best player in the world as he is still able to defeat everyone apart from Sinner and Alcaraz. 

Though Djokovic has even managed to beat Alcaraz in the quarter-finals of the 2025 Australian Open, he failed to continue due to injury issues and had to forfeit the semi-final against Zverev. Djokovic reached the Semis of the other three grand slams last season, losing to Sinner twice and Alcaraz once. This is proof enough that the Serbian legend can still challenge for the biggest titles. 

To write him off would be blasphemy but if he can somehow avoid Sinner or Alcaraz in this tournament, Djokovic has a great chance to win an unprecedented 25th grand slam title on his most favoured surface at Melbourne Park. 

Felix Auger-Aliassime

Felix Auger-Aliassime marked the end of 2025 in superb manner, breaking into the top ten ATP Singles rankings with an incredible season. He reached the semi-finals of the US Open and the Nitto ATP finals, and also the final of the Paris Masters – proving heiw ability and talent yet again. 

Auger-Aliassime had a breakthrough year in 2021 when he reached his first Wimbledon quarter-final and a first US Open semi-final along with other noticeable results which helped him break into the Top 10 rankings. Auger-Aliassime also likes the hard-court surface and his performances on his most favoured surface have been great in recent times. He also has the guile, athleticism, power and ability to trouble even the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz when he is on song. 

Based on his current form, results and talent, Auger-Aliassime does have an outside chance to lift his first grand slam trophy at Melbourne Park in Australia.