2026 Tennis Season Preview

Hi loves,

Goodbye 2025. Hello 2026! 2026 is going to be a great year in tennis; I can feel it. There are so many exciting stories to follow, many up and coming youngsters to watch out for, and a chance to enjoy some of our favourite players for the last time. I thought I would break it down for you - so here we go, the Racket Report 2026 Tennis Season Preview!

Retirements

Gael Monfils, the flamboyant Frenchman, has announced 2026 will be his final year on tour. He is approaching his 40th birthday in September, so this is not entirely a surprise, but I am so not ready for him to leave the tour. Ever since he turned professional in 2004, he has been a staple of the biggest tournaments in tennis. He achieved his career high of world number 6 in 2016 and is the winner of 13 ATP titles - becoming the oldest ATP tour title winner with his victory in Auckland in 2025. It is not his victories he will be remembered for, however, it is his athletic style and vibrant personality. Forever the entertainer, he has consistently enchanted audiences week after week for his entire career. What could he achieve in his final year on tour? I don’t want to be a downer, but I am thinking probably not much more than he has achieved before - and I think Monfils would be okay with that. “I am tremendously at peace”, he said in his retirement announcement; alongside saying “my dream is to have an unbelievable family. Tennis is cool. Of course, you want to have a goal, dream, whatever. But that is not my dream” when asked whether it was his dream to win a grand slam at last years’ Australian Open. A beautiful sportsman, who could pull off the seemingly impossible. Gael Monfils; take a bow.

The already 40 year old Stan Wawrinka, three time grand slam champion and one-handed backhard artist has decided to call time on his career at the end of 2026. He has understandably slowed down in recent years, but he is just as passionate as ever. He currently sits at 157 in the world and has not won a title since 2017, with most of his tennis in 2025 being played on the challenger tour - a decision we should all hugely respect. He is a three-time grand slam champion, yet he has dropped down a level just so he can continue to play professional tennis regularly and not rely on wildcards. I imagine a fair few wildcards will be offered to him this year, especially for the big events and clay court tournaments. He is a legend of the game, and I will absolutely be rooting for him to finish on a high in 2026.

Sorana Cirstea has also announced 2026 will be her final year on tour. The 35 year old Romanian is currently 48 in the world. Like Monfils, Cirstea has had a long career, as she turned pro in 2006. She has won 3 career titles, with the earliest coming in 2008 and the most recent coming in August 2025 in Cleveland. A two-time Olympian, and two-time grand slam quarter finalist, she has much to be proud of in her career - I hope 2026 brings a fruitful end to her career for her. 

New Faces, New Stars

On the other side of the coin to the retirements coming in this year, we have so  many exciting young players coming through to entertain us for years to come. I have been thinking about who we should be keeping an eye out for this year; who could make a jump up the rankings, or just make a name for themselves on the big stage. In 2025 it was Joao Fonseca. The Brazilian has, without sounding dramatic, transformed tennis in the last 12 months. Up until October I would have said he is still in his ‘up and coming’ stage, with just the one title up until that point (Buenos Aires) and sitting at 46 in the world. However, after his triumph in Basel he rose to 24 in the world, with a seeded position at the Australian Open almost guaranteed now (especially considering the amount of unfit players above him in the rankings). He is in the draw for both Brisbane and Adelaide, starting his campaign out with a bang.

But who is taking the title of ‘player to watch’ for 2026? To qualify for consideration you must have not won a tour title. So on the WTA side I was thinking of Victoria Mboko, Maya Joint and Iva Jovic but they have all won titles. I finally settled on Alexandra Eala. Yes, she made history last year as the first Filipino player to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final in Miami beating Iga Swiatek on the way, and was the first Filipino to play at Wimbledon in the open era, so she is a well known name on tour - but she is yet to win a title or crack the top 50 (well her career high is 50 if we are being pedantic, so she has been close). I think she can really make moves on the hard courts at the start of the year, and she will be making her Australian Open debut too so the only way is up when it comes to ranking. She is on the entry list for the 250 event in Auckland, so a few matches under her belt here would give her some stability when it comes to the big stage in Melbourne. She has performed on grass too, reaching the final in Eastbourne losing out to fellow ‘new star on the block’ contender Maya Joint in that epic final. If she can stay fit (the ultimate caveat) I do believe she can crack the top 30 this year, if not higher. She has a powerful game when she plays her best. 

For the ATP ‘player to watch’ I am going with Alex Michelsen. We all know Michelsen. He has been in around the top 50 for the last 18 months or so, but is yet to have a breakthrough run anywhere it matters. His best run at a grand slam is the last 16 in Australian 2025, and before that it was round 3 at the Australian Open in 2024 which bodes well for him going into this year's tournament. Going in with confidence only helps a player (most of the time). If Michelsen can slowly boost his ranking and get consistently into the top events I see no reason why he can’t get his first title this year and get back to his career high ranking of 30, and then push the top 20. He is a good grass court player, so capitalising on tournaments during those few weeks could go a long way in getting him to a decent ranking, meaning a seeding at his home slam.

Big Stories - The Race for the Career Slam

The biggest storyline in 2026 will be the race for the career slam. Three players are searching for that achievement: Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek in Melbourne and Jannik Sinner in Paris. (Yes, I know other players can obviously achieve it too, like Sabalenka and Gauff, but they still need two of the four - so I’m not counting them right now. SUE ME). Carlos Alcaraz is maybe the most interesting prospect on the list following the announcement of the split between him and coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. This does make him a little bit of an unknown quantity, as we do not know if this will change everything or nothing. Carlos has performed well when Ferrero has not been present at past tournaments, winning 3 of his 8 titles in 2025 at tournaments where Ferrero did not travel. So this could be a good sign going forwards for the Alcaraz camp.

Iga Swiatek is also looking for her career slam in Australia. Her 2025 was rocky, to say the least. From Wimbledon onwards, she was far more consistent and was able to get back to the Iga we all recognise as clinical and brutal (in the best way possible, of course). She is a two-time semi finalist in Melbourne, never having reached a final, so she will have to do two firsts this year; reach a final and win the thing. Doable? Absolutely. Likely? I would say potentially.

Jannik Sinner needs to wait slightly longer than the others to see if he can complete the career slam, as Roland Garros is the only one which eludes him. I think the Italian is the biggest unknown because of his Roland Garros 2025 experience. Cruising along, having three championship points in a row, yet walking away in second place. It was without a shadow of a doubt the match of the year, if not the match of the century. So the real question is will this give Sinner the drive and confidence to come back in 2026 and push even harder to get the one slam trophy that is not in his trophy cabinet? Or will it be a daunting, nervy experience with all those bad memories flooding back? The latter is doubtful, I would say. He is the ultimate professional, and will most likely have worked through all those negative feelings since then. He won Wimbledon not long after, so has put the general grand slam stress behind him you would say. I theorise that Alcaraz’s form at the time they grace the courts of Paris once again is a huge factor in Sinner getting his career slam. A top form Alcaraz on clay is nigh on impossible to stop. So if Alcaraz is feeling it, unless Sinner can reach a god-like level of tennis, he may have to wait another year to give the career slam a go. Intriguing, very intriguing.

Where will we next see our favourite players in 2026?

The 2026 season actually does start in 2026 this year - I know, shocking isn’t it? The United Cup kicks off on 2nd January with a star-studded lineup, with players such as Alexander Zverev, Alex De Minaur, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff taking part. January is always jam-packed until the start of the Australian Open. We have Brisbane, Auckland and Adelaide (ATP&WTA), Hong Kong (ATP) and Hobart (WTA) all fit in the space of 2 weeks - and so the tennis schedule returns with a bang!

For British fans, we have to wait a bit longer to see the long awaited return of our men's British number one, Jack Draper. Jack announced on Boxing Day he would not be traveling to Australia this year due to his arm injury recovery still ongoing - merry freaking christmas, am I right? I, for one, am gutted. Not only because I have missed seeing that big forehand on tour, but also because I was so interested to see the dynamic between Draper and new coach Jamie Delgado up close in the courtside coaching pods in Melbourne. Hopefully Jack will be back for the Middle Eastern swing, or at the very latest to defend his title in Indian Wells in March. Watch this space.

Holger Rune is another player we won’t be seeing for a while; a long while. Rune broke/ruptured his Achilles in Stockholm in some pretty distressing scenes. After an operation, he is on the road to recovery, but it could take up to 12 months - with the chances of seeing him before the US Open at almost zero. Even though Holger may not have been a factor late on in the big tournaments for a while, these bad, career impacting injuries are never something we want to see for any player, especially a young player. I’m sure we are all wishing Holger a speedy recovery.

Someone else I would like to quickly mention is Ons Jabeur. Ons announced she is expecting her first baby, a son due in April. I have a real soft spot for Jabeur after double Wimbledon heartbreak, her struggle with injuries and the continued vocal and active support she gives to building women’s tennis as much as she can. I really hope she can get back on court soon, but if we have to wait a little longer then this feels like the best reason to.

Some players we won't see before the Australian Open are top players Sinner and Alcaraz. The duo have not signed up for any warm up tournaments so will be going into Melbourne fresh, but out of match practice. This doesn’t seem to have been an issue before, so I see no reason for concern here!

Predictions

I thought it would be fun to do some quick-fire predictions we can look back on throughout the year, and see just how wrong I get it!

Player to win first grand slam: Taylor Fritz

I have a feeling Taylor will get his first slam this year. He has been fairly consistently getting to the later rounds of slams for a while and I really think he is ready to pick up his first title. If there are any injuries to top players, he needs to take his chance.

No grand slam wins: Coco Gauff

Gauff is so unpredictable. I am not convinced she will get a slam this year, especially as so many players ending the season in good form. I would like to see her perform well at Wimbledon for the first time in a couple of years, but I don’t see her winning it.

Play to overperform: Emma Raducanu

I reckon the British number one gets to a slam semi-final and picks up her first title on the tour, performing consistently every week and cracking the top 15 again. A seeding at the Australian Open is more or less nailed on, unless her opening weeks are a complete disaster - so let’s see how she uses it to her advantage.

Player to underperform: Lorenzo Musetti

I love me some Lorenzo Musetti, I mean who doesn't (am I right girls?), but he is all over the place on the hard courts let’s be honest. A couple of clay court months may not make up for likely disappointment elsewhere. I would love it if he proves me wrong, but I don’t see that happening.

Top 10 debutants: Joao Fonseca & Victoria Mboko

Groundbreaking predictions, I know. It is only a matter of time for these two and I am almost certain this will be their year. 

Most surprising player: Daniil Medvedev. 

“Surprising how?” I hear you ask. Honestly, I have no idea. He could continue the wild ways we have become accustomed to seeing on court, or he could be a good boy and tidy up his act. He could be reaching the heights we know he can at the biggest events, or he could continue to crash out in early rounds (I guess this depends if Benjamin Bonzi is around, if you know you know). Worth keeping an eye on, regardless.

What a season we have ahead of us. I for one cannot wait. Do you agree with my predictions? Or am I way off? Only time will tell us…

Happy New Year one and all! 

Until next time, keep serving!

E x