The World's Top Tennis Players Have Been Competing Since the Beginning of the Year

PERTH, THURSDAY — Approximately six weeks after the conclusion of the 2025 competition season, professional tennis players will commence a new season. Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong will serve as the gathering places for Cori Gauff, Iga Swiatek, as well as Indonesian players Janice Tjen and Aldiila Sutjiadi, to compete in the first week of January 2026.

There are five tournaments that will take place from January 2 to January 11. The ATP tournament for male tennis players will be held in Hong Kong, while female tennis players will compete in Auckland, New Zealand, from January 5 to January 11. Additionally, a combined men's and women's tournament, ATP/WTA 500 Brisbane, will be held in Brisbane, Australia, from January 4 to January 11.

There is also a team championship event, the United Cup, held from January 2 to 11 in Perth and Sydney, Australia. This championship has been held annually since 2023, with the United States as the champion in 2023 and 2025, and Germany winning in 2024. All these tournaments serve as a warm-up for the Grand Slam at the beginning of the year, the Australian Open, in Melbourne, from January 18 to February 1.

The United Cup 2025 will feature 18 teams divided into six groups: three groups will compete in Perth and the other three in Sydney during the qualifying phase with a round-robin format. The winners of each group, along with the two best runners-up from each city, will advance to the quarter-finals. Each match will consist of men's singles, women's singles, and mixed doubles.

In 2025, the United States will rely on top ten world-ranked tennis players, namely Cori “Coco” Gauff as the third-ranked women's singles player and Taylor Fritz, the sixth-ranked men's singles player. Poland will be reinforced by the same players as when they were finalists in the last two years, namely Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz.

Other tennis players who chose the United Cup as their first tournament in 2026 include Naomi Osaka representing Japan, Alex de Minaur (Australia), Flavio Cobolli and Jasmine Paolini (Italy), as well as Felix Auger-Aliassime and 19-year-old Victoria Mboko, who represents Canada.

"I have always watched the United Cup on TV and have a desire to play here. This is a championship with a fun team atmosphere, and I enjoy this ambiance," said Osaka, on the official tournament website, during a press conference in Perth, Thursday (1/1/2026).

One of the tennis players who is also part of the Japan team and will collaborate with Osaka is men's singles player, Shintaro Mochizuki. He is ranked 99th and has been competing in the professional arena since 2019, when Osaka already had two Grand Slam titles, from the 2018 US Open and the 2019 Australian Open.

Being part of a team with a former world number one tennis player and holder of four Grand Slam titles, Mochizuki expressed his enthusiasm. He stated that Osaka serves as an inspiration in competing in the professional arena.

"I was very nervous when I spoke to her for the first time a few days ago. I often see her in tournaments but never had the chance to chat. It would be a lot of fun to play doubles with Naomi," said the 22-year-old tennis player.

Osaka does not set high targets for the United Cup, nor for her journey this year. After becoming a mother in July 2023, she does not place expectations too far ahead. "I see every challenge as a new opportunity each day. However, at the same time, my biggest role is not as a tennis player, but as the mother of my daughter," said Osaka.

Japan will be one of the teams competing on the opening day, Friday (2/1/2026), in Perth. Their first opponent is Greece, which relies on Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari. The competition between the two teams takes place in Group E, which is also occupied by the United Kingdom, strengthened by Emma Raducanu.

"We have a great spirit of togetherness every time we compete in the United Cup. I truly hope that every team member is ready to fight. We are warriors," said Tsitsipas, who has been playing in the United Cup alongside Sakkari since the inaugural edition.

In Brisbane, seven women's singles players ranked in the top ten will begin their appearances in 2026 at the WTA 500 level. Among them is the top-ranked player and defending champion, Aryna Sabalenka. With this ranking, Sabalenka will be the top seed.

The closest competitor for Sabalenka is one of the American tennis players, Amanda Anisimova, who has defeated her six times out of 11 encounters. There are also Elena Rybakina and Mirra Andreeva, who have won against Sabalenka in their most recent meetings.

In the men's singles event at the same tournament, the highest-ranked tennis player competing will be Daniil Medvedev. The 13th-ranked athlete will compete against the defending champion, Jiri Lehecka, as well as two young players, namely the 19-year-old Brazilian athlete, Joao Fonseca, and Learner Tien (20), the champion of the ATP Next Gen Finals 2025.

However, the competition in this first week will not include the two best tennis players, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Both of them, who have won nine out of the last ten Grand Slams, have chosen to participate in an exhibition tournament in Incheon, South Korea, on January 10. After that, they are expected to immediately prepare for the Australian Open in Melbourne.

In 2026, Alcaraz will compete without Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has coached him for seven years. The two announced the end of their collaboration in December 2025; however, no one mentioned the reason.

Ferrero has guided Alcaraz to six Grand Slam titles, twice each at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. On September 12, 2022, Alcaraz became the youngest world number one tennis player at the age of 19.

Meanwhile, two Indonesian female tennis players, Janice Tjen and Aldila Sutjiadi, will also compete in 2026 starting from the first week. They will participate in the same tournament, namely the WTA 250 Auckland, New Zealand.

Janice will compete in both the women's singles and doubles events, while Aldila will only participate in the women's doubles alongside Makoto Ninomiya (Japan). Janice will team up with American tennis player Caty McNally, a finalist in the women's doubles at the US Open in 2021 and 2022.