The women's qualifying entry list for the Australian Open 2026 features world No. 104 Polina Kudermetova, who recently reached the final at the Brisbane International. She will be joined by notable players such as 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens, 2021 Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady, and former top-10 player Kristina Mladenovic, all utilizing protected rankings to enter the event. Other significant names include Katie Boulter and Taylor Townsend, alongside emerging talents Lilli Tagger, the 2025 Roland Garros junior champion, and Alina Korneeva, the girls’ title winner at the AO 2023. Twelve Australian women will compete in qualifying, including Astra Sharma, Maddison Inglis, Olivia Gadecki, and Arina Rodionova, as well as wildcards Destanee Aiava, Lizette Cabrera, Tina Smith, Elena Micic, Storm Hunter, Alana Subasic, Tahlia Kokkinis, and Renee Alame. The ninth wildcard has been awarded to French junior talent Ksenia Efremova under a reciprocal agreement.
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On the men's side, the qualifying draw also features strong local representation with 12 Australians. Included are Jordan Thompson, Bernard Tomic, Alex Bolt, Jason Kubler, James McCabe, and Dane Sweeny, who were directly accepted. Additional wildcards go to Cruz Hewitt, Edward Winter, Pavle Marinkov, Li Tu, Moerani Bouzige, and Philip Sekulic. Australian Open 2025 junior champion Henry Bernet has received a wildcard, with two more men's qualifying wildcards set to be confirmed in early January. Leading the men's qualifying entry list is world No. 102 Vit Kopriva from Czechia. Other well-known players include former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori, Dan Evans, Nicholas Jarry, Dusan Lajovic, Yoshihito Nishioka, Mackenzie McDonald, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, and Wu Yibing. Additionally, seven rising stars from the recent Next Gen ATP Finals, including AO 2023 junior champion Alexander Blockx, are among the competitors, along with Rei Sakamoto, the Australian Open 2024 boy’s champion, who is now a top-200 men’s player.