How to follow Australian Open across the BBC

Jannik Sinner and Madison Keys have begun their Australian Open title defences in Melbourne - and you can follow the first Grand Slam of 2026 across the BBC.

World number two and reigning Wimbledon champion Sinner is bidding for a third Melbourne title in a row.

Top ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who is looking to complete the career Grand Slam, will be one of the main challengers, alongside last year's finalist Alexander Zverev and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

American Keys capped a dream Melbourne run with victory over world number one Aryna Sabalenka in last year's final.

Sabalenka, a two-time Melbourne champion, will be eager to reclaim her title, while world number two Iga Swiatek goes for a career Grand Slam.

There are no British players left in the singles draws - after Cameron Norrie's four-set defeat by Zverev - but success could yet come in the doubles and wheelchair events.

There will be comprehensive coverage of the tournament across the BBC - here are the key details.

The Australian Open takes place from Sunday, 18 January to Sunday, 1 February at Melbourne Park.

The women's singles final will be on 31 January, with the men's on 1 February.

Qualifying - where players had to win all three matches to reach the main draw - took place from 12-15 January.

There will be live radio commentary from Melbourne Park across BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer.

Tennis Breakfast will be on air every morning from 07:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds for discussion and debate, followed by commentary of the night sessions.

There will also be four BBC Radio 5 Live Tennis programmes across the fortnight, which will run between 21:00 and 22:00 GMT on 19, 23, 26 and 30 January.

Live text commentaries can be found on the BBC Sport website and app, along with match reports, features and all the latest news and analysis from the tournament.

You can also catch up on the day's top stories in a daily podcast, which will be available on BBC Radio 5 Live Sport's 'All About' podcast feed.

The draw for the tournament took place on Thursday, 15 January.

There are no Britons left in the Melbourne singles after Cameron Norrie was knocked out in the third round by Alexander Zverev on 23 January.

The British number two produced an inspired second set but ultimately fell to a 7-5 4-6 6-3 6-1 defeat by the world number three.

Arthur Fery, who caused an upset against Italian 20th seed Flavio Cobolli in the first round, lost to Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

Emma Raducanu, meanwhile, lost 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 to former top-25 player Anastasia Potapova.

Jacob Fearnley and Francesca Jones exited in the first round on 19 January - Jones retired injured in the second set of her opening contest - while Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal were knocked out of the women's draw a day later.

British number one Jack Draper is not featuring this year because of an arm injury.

In January, Tennis Australia announced a 16% increase in prize money for the Australian Open.

The total prize pot is A$111.5m (£55m), with the men's and women's singles champions each receiving $4.15m (£2.05m) - a 19% increase on the amount 2025 winners Sinner and Keys took home.

All singles and doubles players competing at the season-opening Grand Slam will get a minimum increase of 10%.

This year's rise in total prize money means the Australian Open is offering more than Wimbledon (£53.5m) and the French Open (£47.5m) did in 2025, although it is still behind the US Open (£67.4m).

The prize money available at each round of the men's and women's singles is as follows:

The men's and women's doubles began on Tuesday, 20 January, with the mixed doubles getting under way on Thursday, 22 January.

Australian duo Olivia Gadecki and John Peers are the defending mixed doubles champions.

Melbourne is 11 hours ahead of the UK.

The day sessions start at 11:00 local time (midnight GMT) on the outer courts and at 12:00 (01:00 GMT) on the show courts.

The night sessions - which are held on Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and John Cain Arena - begin at 19:00 local time (08:00 GMT).

The women's and men's singles finals start at 19:30 (08:30 GMT).

23-24 January: Men's and women's singles third round

25-26 January: Men's and women's singles fourth round

27-28 January: Men's and women's singles quarter-finals, wheelchair competition begins

29 January: Women's singles semi-finals

30 January: Men's singles semi-finals, wheelchair doubles finals

31 January: Women's final, men's and women's doubles finals, wheelchair singles finals

1 February: Men's final