Sinner is the Spaniard’s clear rival but Swiatek, Rybakina, Bencic, Gauff and others are in Sabalenka’s wayEveryone wants to know exactly why Carlos Alcaraz split up with Juan Carlos Ferrero.It was, by some margin, one of the most surprising coaching separations in the history of tennis, a decision that came with no clear warning immediately after the greatest season of Alcaraz’s career.The discourse has since ranged from his alleged determination to reside exclusively at home in El Palmar, Murcia and train in his home academy, to potential discontent at Ferrero’s absences from numerous tournaments last year.The coach has offered his own perspective in interviews, repeatedly expressing his sadness at a split he did not want.Alcaraz, however, has opted for silence.

His mandatory pre-tournament press conference at the Australian Open on Friday marked his first time publicly speaking about the split, and the 22-year-old offered as little information as possible on the reasons behind it,“With Juan Carlos, we decide to do it,I’m just having plenty of confidence in the team that I have right now,” Alcaraz said,“The practices have gone really well,I’m just feeling well.

“I’ve got to say that I’m really grateful for this seven years I’ve been with Juan Carlos.I learned a lot.We closed this chapter in mutual [ways].We both are still friends.I have the same team that I had last year.

Just one member missing.So we didn’t change the routine at all.We’re just going through the pre-season and the season in the same way, probably with the improvement that I really want to do.”This new chapter begins with one of the most interesting challenges of Alcaraz’s career as, with his former assistant coach Samuel López now by his side as his main counsel, he is attempting to become the youngest man to win the career grand slam.Alcaraz has already won each of the three other grand slam tournaments on two occasions but he has not even come close to producing his optimal level at the Australian Open.

Two quarter-final runs remain his best results.The coming fortnight will therefore be a fascinating measure of his maturity.Alcaraz is solely responsible for his talent, ability and determination, but Ferrero always seemed a perfect foil to those stratospheric natural abilities, helping to imbue him with greater discipline and attention to detail, using his knowledge as a coach and former champion to help keep Alcaraz on track.The coming weeks will show just how ready the world No 1 is to take control and tread his own path forward.This is particularly true because of the challenge that will probably await, with his great rival Jannik Sinner also chasing history.

The Italian will attempt to win the Australian Open, the scene of his first major title, for a third consecutive year.The pair have contested the past three grand slam finals, but Sinner’s slam record is even more complete.He has now reached the past five major finals, winning three and holding a match point against Alcaraz at the French Open before losing last year.Not so long ago, grand slam draws were actually significant.Even during the unprecedented dominance of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, the placement of the third and fourth seeds was of utmost importance and there were still obvious dangers along the way.

But Alcaraz and Sinner have dominated the tour so emphatically over the past year that Thursday’s draw ceremony felt irrelevant.As the top two seeds, their positions in the draw were already confirmed.Nothing else mattered.Neither player is unbeatable; Sinner trailed Grigor Dimitrov by two sets in the fourth round of Wimbledon last year before the Bulgarian was forced to retire with a freak pectoral injury and Alcaraz can still have erratic days.However, there is now an enormous gulf between the top two and the rest, and all other potential competitors have the unenviable task of trying to bridge that gap in Melbourne.

This could not be further from the case in the women’s draw.Last February Amanda Anisimova was ranked No 41 and still desperately trying to fulfil her immense potential.She started this year having just reached a career-high ranking of No 3, marching into the past two grand slam finals and putting together a breakthrough year that outstripped all expectations.Today, Anisimova is the purest, most devastating shotmaker in the game, capable of dominating anyone with the force and precision of her ground strokes, particularly that two‑handed backhand.As evidenced by her contribution to the one-point slam on Wednesday, her only serve falling into the bottom of the net and instantly eliminating her, Coco Gauff still has much to work on with her flaky serve.

But she has also shown repeatedly that she can make herself incredibly difficult to beat, as the 21-year-old did in the French Open final last year, outsmarting Aryna Sabalenka en route to her second major title.She issued a reminder of her pedigree with a near flawless performance last week with a straight-sets win over the world No 2, Iga Swiatek, at the United Cup.Elena Rybakina’s first serve is one of the most destructive, reliable shots in the game, which she backs up with her relentless shotmaking from the baseline.The past years have been challenging for her, in part because of the many question marks surrounding her coaching partnership with Stefano Vukov, who was banned by the Women’s Tennis Association for much of 2025 due to alleged verbal abuse of his charge, before being reinstated in August.She found her way in spectacular fashion at the close of the year, bulldozing through the best players in the world to win the WTA Finals.

A year on from her stellar grand slam return after maternity leave, Belinda Bencic has started the season back in the top 10 and in some of the best form of her life.Mirra Andreeva, still only 18, seems as though she could excel at a grand slam tournament at any moment.Victoria Mboko, Naomi Osaka, Karolina Muchova, Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys – the defending champion – all have the quality to make deep runs and compete among the best.These are just some of the competitors who will be desperate for a shot at Sabalenka and Swiatek, having proved their ability to tussle with the elite.However, Sabalenka and Swiatek are the two best players in the world for a reason and will chase historic achievements of their own.

Not even Swiatek imagined she would win Wimbledon last year, yet that victory has put her in position to chase her own career grand slam in Australia, where the 2022 semi-final remains her best result.Sabalenka, meanwhile, has established an outlandish record in Australia, last week’s triumph in Brisbane improving her record to 40 wins in her last 42 matches.Having reached the past three finals in Melbourne, the Belarusian will begin as the favourite to win her third title.A strong group of challengers are solidifying their positions at the top of the sport, and over the next fortnight the world’s two best players face the colossal challenge of holding them all off.