Australian Open Opening Week: Six Top-8 stars confirmed for exhibitions featuring Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

Activities leading up to the Australian Open are starting to take shape, and there is already news about what will occur during the Australian Open Opening Week, featuring several high-level exhibition matches that will include six Top 8 stars, including Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner among the participating players.

The first Grand Slam of the year will start with the qualifying rounds on January 12, while the main draw will be played from January 18 to February 1. The defending champions are Jannik Sinner—who defeated Alexander Zverev—and Madison Keys—who overcame Aryna Sabalenka in the women's final.

As is traditional, several events organized by Tennis Australia are added to the days of the qualifiers on the main courts of Melbourne Park. According to information from journalist Michael Samulski, several of the exhibition matches to be played during the week prior to the start of the main draw have already been defined, providing a first look at some of the title contenders before the tournament.

The first exhibition match of the week will feature the 2024 runner-up Alexander Zverev (No. 3) facing the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (No. 8). Sascha has had great campaigns in Melbourne, reaching the final in 2025 and the semifinals in 2020 and 2024, for a total record of 31-10. The German had his best campaign a year ago, when he entered as the 2nd seed and defeated rivals like Ugo Humbert (14th), Tommy Paul (12th), and Novak Djokovic in the semifinals (who retired after the first set).

His opponent will be the Italian Musetti, whose best result in Melbourne was his run to the third round a year ago, defeating Matteo Arnaldi and Denis Shapovalov along the way, but ultimately falling in four sets to American Ben Shelton.

Musetti and Zverev have five previous official meetings, with the Italian leading 3-2 (1-1 on hard courts). However, Zverev emerged victorious from their last encounter in the semifinals of the Vienna Open.

Wednesday will feature the innovative AO 1 Point Slam, with a million-dollar prize at stake. According to information from Tennis Australia on its website, pros, celebrities, and amateurs across the country will be able to compete in the Rod Laver Arena, with the confirmed presence of World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and former Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios—in his return to Melbourne after three years.

The Million Dollar 1 Point Slam will feature a total of 22 pros and 10 amateurs playing a direct elimination draw. A 'rock, paper, scissors' determines which player serves or receives, and only one point is played. The winner advances, while the player who loses the point is eliminated. The final winner will take home one million dollars. Could an amateur surprise the big stars?

Thursday, before the start of the tournament, will be the opportunity to see World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in a high-level match. The Spaniard arrives with the ambition of completing the Career Grand Slam—and could become the youngest in history to achieve it. Alcaraz's best performances are the quarterfinals in 2024 and 2025, and his results have been significantly less forceful than in the rest of the Grand Slams with a record of 11-4 (73%).

His opponent will be the Aussie No. 1 Alex de Minaur, a recent APT Finals semifinalist and current World No. 7. De Minaur finished the season in the best possible way and will start 2026 with great ambitions, especially as he takes the court as the main local hope. In five official meetings against Alcaraz, the Spaniard has been victorious in all of them—including two finals. Their last confrontation was in the round-robin stage of the ATP Finals a few weeks ago, where Alcaraz took the victory in straight sets.

The last day of exhibitions will feature the two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner back on the courts for a first look at his Melbourne presentation. The Italian has 14 consecutive wins at the 'Happy Slam'. The pre-week offers a good opportunity for him to measure his level ahead of his title defense.

His opponent will be Felix Auger-Aliassime, a player he faced several times in the final part of 2025. The Italian dominates the head-to-head 4-2, taking the victory in their last four consecutive meetings—all between August and November 2025, including the Paris Masters final and the US Open semifinals.