Women’s tennis has Coco, Sabalenka, Swiatek and more. The men have ‘Sincaraz’ at the Australian Open

With Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys divvying up the four Grand Slam titles last season, women’s tennis offers quite a bit more intrigue these days than the “ Sincaraz ” dominance in the men’s game.

Indeed, seven of the past nine years ended with different female champions at every major tournament.

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No. 1-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who plays his first-round match at Melbourne Park when action gets started Sunday, and two-time defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, meanwhile, have combined to win the past eight men’s Slam trophies.

They’ve even met in the last three major finals — making 2025 the first season since 1964, when Roy Emerson and Fred Stolle did it, that the same two men squared off in three Slam title matches.

“The rivalry with Alcaraz and Sinner is a great one,” said no less an authority than Roger Federer.

Alcaraz and Sinner played each other six times last year, every one in a final (Alcaraz won four).

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Contrast that with No. 1 Sabalenka and No. 2 Swiatek, whose only meeting in 2025 came in the French Open semifinals.

“It’s actually not only about me and Iga. It’s Coco, Elena (Rybakina), Jessica (Pegula). I just don’t want to forget anyone right now,” said Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024 and plays Sunday. “That’s crazy to think that we only played once last year.”

Here is what else to know about the 2026 Australian Open, the season’s first major tennis tournament:

Players still want more money and more say at Slams

Each Grand Slam event that comes and goes tends to offer record prize money, and that’s the case at the 2026 Australian Open, where it increased 16% from 2025 to about $75 million.

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Tennis players, though, seek more, along with increased benefits and a greater say in how things are run at the four most prestigious — and lucrative — tournaments.

Keys, the defending champion in Melbourne, said she’s “cautiously optimistic” about further gains.

“We all need each other,” she said.

Gauff said players “are grateful for the progress that has been made,” but noted: “The…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/womens-tennis-coco-sabalenka-swiatek-162836369.html

Author : HOWARD FENDRICH

Publish date : 2026-01-17 16:28:00

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