This year's Australian Open is the 58th edition of the tournament in the Open Era, and the main draw gets under way on Sunday.

Carlos Alcaraz heads into the season's first major as the top dog in the ATP world rankings. 

Alcaraz's eight titles led the Tour in 2025, and also marked a career-best tally for the 22-year-old.

He won three ATP 500 titles and three ATP Masters 1000 crowns to go with his two grand slam triumphs, which came against Jannik Sinner at Roland-Garros and Flushing Meadows.

Alcaraz has won six grand slam titles, but the Australian Open crown has so far evaded him. However, the Spaniard is "hungry" for that to change in 2026, as he aims to become the youngest man to win the career Grand Slam.

22, 188 - Since 1988, Carlos Alcaraz (22y 188d) is now the youngest player to reach the final at each of the four Big Title levels - Grand Slam, ATP Masters 1000, Olympics and ATP Finals - surpassing Alexander Zverev (24y 95d). Phenom.#NittoATPFinals | @atptour @ATPMediaInfo pic.twitter.com/zRCU8xMMqL

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) November 15, 2025

Using Opta data, we delve into the key storylines ahead of the men's singles draw at the Australian Open.

King Carlos' missing crown

Since the event's switch to hard court in 1988, only two players ranked outside the ATP’s top 10 have won the men's singles title at the Australian Open – Thomas Johansson (#18, 2002) and Roger Federer (#17, 2017).

And while there will be plenty of hopefuls hoping to buck the trend, the overwhelming consensus is that it will be another Alcaraz and Sinner showdown.

That duo have split the last eight major titles between them, even though they did not meet in a grand slam final until last year's French Open.

There is more on Sinner to come, but Alcaraz has never managed to get beyond the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park. Last season, he went down to Novak Djokovic in an epic contest that went well into the night on Rod Laver Arena.

Alcaraz is aiming to become the sixth male player in the Open Era to achieve the career Grand Slam after Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic.

In the Open Era, only Bjorn Borg (seven) has claimed more men's singles titles at the majors before turning 23 than Alcaraz.

Alcaraz was the only man with 1000+ winners across the major events in 2025 (1,035), and at times he lived up to his self-proclaimed status as a "serve bot".

But he has a fierce challenger in the form of a two-time reigning champion.

You heard it here first

Will @carlosalcaraz be adding a Kangaroo to his tattoo collection this year? pic.twitter.com/277zNAHoBo

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2026

But is Melbourne Sinner's city?

Alcaraz (71) claimed the most match wins of any player at ATP level in 2025, but the one player with a better win rate than him was Sinner (90.6%).

After successfully defending his title Down Under, Sinner was then banned for three months of last season due to a doping violation, though he did not miss any of the grand slams.

He marked his comeback by reaching the final at Roland-Garros, failing to take three championship points in a remarkable loss to Alcaraz, but he gained some measure of revenge at Wimbledon.

Alcaraz got the better of Sinner at Flushing Meadows, so we are on course for a fourth straight major showdown between the best two male players on the planet.

Since the inaugural ATP Tour season in 1990, Sinner could become just the fifth man to claim three consecutive titles at a single grand slam, after Pete Sampras (Wimbledon), Federer (US Open, Wimbledon), Nadal (Roland-Garros) and Djokovic (Australian Open). 

Djokovic achieved that feat twice, between 2011-2013 and 2019-2021.

Sinner is just the fourth player in the Open Era to finish successive seasons with a 90%+ win rate (minimum 10 matches played) on the ATP Tour, after Borg, Ivan Lendl and Federer.

Really happy to be back on court Had a lot of fun today! Thanks Carlos for a great match and thanks to all the fans who came out to watch. See you very soon in Australia pic.twitter.com/84EBNKc8LL

— Jannik Sinner (@janniksin) January 10, 2026

This edition of the Australian Open marks Sinner's 25th appearance in the main draw of a major. The 24-year-old has won his past 17 opening-round matches, with his last such loss coming to Marton Fucsovics at Wimbledon in 2021.

Last year, Sinner became the third player to reach the final at all four majors and the ATP Finals in a season, after Federer (2006, 2007) and Djokovic (2015, 2023) – Sinner was the youngest of the three to achieve the feat.

Sinner (81.4%, 227-52) only trails five players in the Open Era (minimum 50 matches) for winning percentage on hard court at ATP level. Alcaraz might be on top of the world, but the Italian is the man to beat.

Final farewells?

The 2025 season was the first since 2002 when one of Djokovic, Nadal or Federer did not reach a major final. The start of a new era in men's tennis is certainly upon us.

When Djokovic left the court after one set of his semi-final against Alexander Zverev last year, it was not clear if he would make a return to Melbourne Park.

But, the 24-time grand slam champion is back for at least one more go-around, and there is speculation that Djokovic may well be heading into his final season on the Tour.

Will he ever claim that elusive, record-setting 25th major crown? Well, if he is to do it, where better than in Melbourne, where he has won a record 10 times?

Djokovic is the only man in the Open Era to reach 10+ singles finals at multiple grand slam events, doing so at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

In the Open Era, Djokovic (90.8%, 99-10) holds the best winning percentage at the Australian Open (minimum 20 matches played).

This will be his 21st main draw appearance at the event, which equals Federer.

Djokovic will also be making his 81st main draw appearance at a slam, equalling Federer and Feliciano Lopez for the most of any man in the Open Era. 

The chances of Djokovic going the distance seem slim, even if he did reach the last four at each of the majors last season. When he comes up against Sinner or Alcaraz, who he did, of course, beat in Melbourne, then he has admitted he struggles over five sets.

But he will still have hope, and given his accomplishments, who can blame him?

One player who will definitely be saying goodbye to the Australian Open is Stan Wawrinka, who is retiring this season.

At 40 years 290 days, Wawrinka is the oldest wildcard entrant in the men's singles at any major in the Open Era.