Ukraine’s first racket Elina Svitolina (WTA 14) became the “Opening Week” participant of the Australian Open 2026.
On January 14, 2026, the Ukrainian will play an exhibition match against Amanda Anisimova (USA, WTA 4) at the tournament’s main stadium, Rod Laver Arena.
The meeting will be held in the format of two standard sets as the deciding game and a super tiebreak up to 10 points.
There will also be four more exhibition matches: Elena Rybakina – Zheng Qingwen, Alexander Zverev – Lorenzo Musetti, Carlos Alcaraz – Alex de Minaur, Jannik Sinner – Felix Auger-Aliassime.
After the match between Svitolina and Anisimova, Rod Laver Arena will host the AO 1 Point Slam tournament, where tennis stars Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, Daniil Medvedev, Zheng Qingwen, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jasmine Paolini will compete against amateurs.