The 2026 Australian Open begins on Sunday in Melbourne. Here is how you can watch every match of the tournament for free.

Play in the Australian Open is scheduled to begin January 18 on the hard courts of Melbourne Park. It is the third time the year’s first Grand Slam tennis tournament will begin on a Sunday instead of a Monday.

The Australian Open kicks off the Grand Slam season at Melbourne Park on hard courts, in summer heat that’s often sweltering. Locally, the tournament takes place Sunday, Jan. 18 through Sunday, Feb. 1, with qualifying running earlier this week. For viewers in the U.S., the action begins a day earlier, on Saturday, Jan. 17.

Meetings between Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys and Ben Shelton and Jannik Sinner were among likely bouts shown in Thursday's Australian Open draw.

The draw for the 2026 Australian Open is out, and it features many blockbuster clashes from the first round onwards. Multiple top-10 players find themselves facing stern opponents in the first round,

MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian Open is notorious for some late finishes. They usually involve a man, often a well-known one — Andy Murray and Daniil Medvedev spring to mind from recent years — playing a five-set match into the small hours of the morning.

British star Jacob Fearnley was involved in a loud match on the Australian Open's party court, and he'd be up for playing another round there.