Another record year for the 2026 Australian Tennis Open

Australian Open 2026 has established the tournament as a three-week summer spectacle of tennis, food,
entertainment, innovation and family fun. For the first time, the entire precinct was activated for a full 21 days,
transforming Melbourne Park into a vibrant tennis festival.

Once again record numbers of fans – more than 1.3 million – flocked through the gates, eager to immerse
themselves in everything the world’s biggest annual sport and entertainment event in January has to offer.
Carlos Alcaraz won the Australian Open men’s singles crown for the first time, becoming the youngest man in
history to complete the career Grand Slam, while Elena Rybakina won her maiden Australian Open women’s
singles title.

AO26 broke all attendance records with 1,368,043 fans through the gates over three weeks (1,218,831 in 2025).
Opening Week attracted 217,999 fans (up from 116,528 in 2025) and main draw 1,150,444 (1,102,303 in 2025).

Attendance

Across three weeks from Monday 12 January to Sunday 1 February, 1,368,043 people visited Melbourne Park,
compared to 1,218,831 over three weeks in 2025, representing an increase of 12 per cent year on year.
For the third consecutive year, the Australian Open started on Sunday, extending the main draw to 15 days.
AO26 broke the main draw attendance record with 1,150,444 fans through the gates over 15 days, compared
with the previous record of 1,102,303 set in 2025.
Records were broken for 11 individual sessions and 15 day/night totals.
Thursday 22 January was the highest attended day/night in the history of the Australian Open with 103,956 fans
through the gates.
359,059 people attended Summer of Tennis events held in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Perth and
Sydney in the lead-in to AO26.
More than 1.7 million people attended events across the entire Australian Summer of Tennis.

AO Opening Week presented by Herald Sun

AO Opening Week saw incredible growth with 217,999 fans through the gates in 2026 to watch qualifying
matches, enjoy open practice, explore the precinct and experience Kids Tennis Day, representing an 87 per
cent increase compared to 2025.
Four evenings of star-studded Opening Week Showdowns in Rod Laver Arena featuring top players raised
money for a range of charities through the Australian Tennis Foundation.
5000 Hot Shots Tennis racquets given out to kids throughout the week.
Jordan Smith, an amateur from Castle Hill in NSW claimed the AO 1 Point Slam Driven by Kia defeating pro
player Joanna Garland (TPE) in the final.
Kids Tennis Day presented by Emirates attracted 28,2

Domestic broadcast highlights

Australian Open 2026 saw a 22 per cent year on year increase in hours viewed (metro TV and streaming) with
108.3 million domestic hours viewed.
Audiences on streaming platforms continue to grow, with 31.5 per cent of domestic hours viewed coming
through 9Now and Stan – up 9.1 percent year on year.
AO26 reached 14.3 million viewers – a 9.7 per cent year on year increase, and the highest since 2022 when Ash Barty and the ‘Special Ks’ lifted trophies.
Average audiences climbed 25 per cent year on year to 696,000 across national total TV. Traditional linear TV
enjoyed 13 per cent growth, while digital streaming had a record-breaking 101 per cent surge
The historic 2026 men’s singles final was the highest-rating men’s final since 2017. Hours viewed were up 77 per cent year on year, with a national TV reach of 6.3 million, national total TV average audience of 3.4 million (up 67 per cent year on year), and a BVOD audience of 905,000 (up 136 per cent year on year).
Elena Rybakina’s victory in the 2026 women’s singles final was the highest-rating women’s final since Ash
Barty’s triumph in 2022. Hours viewed were up 26 per cent year on year, with a national total TV reach of 3.82 million, a national total TV average audience of 2.14 million (up 30 per cent year on year), and a BVOD audience of 500,000 (up 95 per cent year on year).
Outside of finals weekend, Alex de Minaur’s quarterfinal match against eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz was the highest-rating match of the tournament, with a national total TV reach of 3.55 million and a national total TV average audience of 1.99 million.

International broadcast

The top three countries by TV hours viewed were China, Australia and USA (as per the last four editions of the AO).
Carlos Alcaraz’s victory helped increase TV hours viewed in Spain by 119 per cent year on year.
Up to the quarterfinals, TV hours viewed in the USA were up 18 per cent year on year and viewership for the
round of 16 on ESPN2 was up 34 per cent year on year.
Canada enjoyed strong audience growth, with TV hours viewed up 24 per cent year on year.
Iga Swiatek’s run to the quarterfinals saw TV hours viewed in Poland increase 12 per cent year on year.

AO YouTube and AO Radio (preliminary figures)

Australian Open YouTube passed 3 million subscribers, making it the most subscribed tennis channel on
YouTube.
On Saturday 24 January, AO YouTube recorded its single biggest day ever with 32 million views in just 24
hours – smashing the previous record from 2022 by more than 4 million.
1800 videos were uploaded to AO YouTube.
2,068,275 listeners tuned in to AO Radio in 2026, spending a total of 60,689,698 minutes listening across the
AO app, ausopen.com, and on YouTube.
AO Radio video stream reached more than 1 million unique viewers/listeners.

AO Social Media (preliminary figures)

More than 11,226 pieces of content were created and published to AO social channels including Instagram,
Facebook, X and TikTok during AO26 (up 60 per cent year on year), resulting in more than 3.22 billion
impressions (up 89 per cent year on year), more than 2.4 billion video views (up 118 per cent year on year)
and 94 million engagements (up 109 per cent year on year).
The Australian Open’s Instagram account surpassed 4.2 million followers while its TikTok account surpassed 3 million followers.
Six individual posts on Instagram and TikTok drew more than 20 million impressions each
AO social media followers in China surpassed 6 million (up 16 per cent year on year).
Content generated by AO official accounts in China resulted in 436 million impressions (up 28 per cent year on year). Total impression and discussions across China for AO26 official handles was 2.15 billion while content relating to the AO 1 Point Slam and Taiwanese singer and actor Jay Chou generated 1.4 billion impressions.
More than 500 influencers, content creators and celebrities attended the Australian Open.