Australian Open 2026: Emma Raducanu on course to face Aryna Sabalenka as Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal & Arthur Fery draw seeds

British No.1 Emma Raducanu will face Thailand's Mananchaya Sawangkaew in the opening round of the Australian Open.

28^th seed Raducanu would play either Anastasia Potapova or Suzan Lamens in the second round before a potential blockbuster clash with world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Raducanu and Sabalenka met in one of the matches of Wimbledon last year and had a three-set battle in Cincinnati – with Sabalenka winning both matches.

Elsewhere, Katie Boulter has been drawn against 10^th seed Belinda Bencic in the first round, while British No.2 Sonay Kartal will play 31^st seed Anna Kalinskaya.

Boulter will face a tough challenge up against the in-form Bencic – who is undefeated so far in 2026, including wins over Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini at the United Cup.

Kartal – who recently made the quarter-finals of the ASB Classic – will take on Kalinskaya for the first time in her career.

Should Kartal go on to reach the third round, she could potentially face reigning Wimbledon champion and second seed Iga Swiatek.

Francesca Jones is set for the Australian Open main draw for only the second time in her career, where she will face Polish qualifier Linda Klimovicova.

Jones recently claimed the biggest win of her career against world No.15 Emma Navarro and is coming off the best season of her career. If she claims her first main draw win in Melbourne, Jones could play recent Auckland champion Elina Svitolina.

On the men’s side, Cam Norrie comes in as Britain’s highest ranked player with the 26^th seed drawn against France’s Benjamin Bonzi. Bonzi won their only previous meeting in the 2024 Metz final.

A win would see him play either Emilio Nava or Kyrian Jacquet in the second round before a potential clash with third seed Alexander Zverev.

Jacob Fearnley – who made the third round on debut at the Australian Open last year – takes on Kamil Majchrzak in the opening round.

The winner would face either 24^th seed Arthur Rinderknech or Fabien Marozsan in round two and then potentially former US Open champion and Australian Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev in round three.

Arthur Fery has been one of the stories of this year’s Australian Open so far for British fans – coming through qualifying to reach the main draw of an overseas Grand Slam for the first time.

Fery’s reward for his impressive performances so far is a matchup with 20^th seed Flavio Cobolli. World No.22 Cobolli won two ATP titles last year in Hamburg and Bucharest and is one of the rising stars on the ATP Tour.

The Australian Open gets underway from Sunday 18 January – Sunday 1 February at Melbourne Park. You can watch all the action live on TNT Sports and Discovery+.

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