Novak Djokovic, a record 10-time winner of the Australian Open, and Coco Gauff both missed out on being on the winners’ list of Jim Courier and Lindsay Davenport for this year’s Melbourne Major.
Last year, Gauff reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open before losing to Paula Badosa. Meanwhile, Djokovic advanced to the semifinals but had to retire after the first set against eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev due to a muscle tear.
Jim Courier & Lindsay Davenport Do Not Pick Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic as Their Australian Open Winners
Recently, while speaking on Tennis Channel, Davenport and Courier, along with Prakash Amritraj, shared their predictions for the 2026 Australian Open winners. Davenport, a one-time singles champion at the Melbourne Major and a six-time runner-up in doubles, selected Aryna Sabalenka and two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner as her picks for the Grand Slam title.
Davenport mentioned that Sabalenka and Sinner have been the “best players” in Melbourne over the last three to four years, and that their current form points to a solid chance of winning. Sabalenka won the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024 and was runner-up in 2025, while Sinner won in 2024 and 2025.
“I’m gonna just go straight down the line: go Sinner, go Sabalenka. They’ve been the best players here at Melbourne Park for the last 3-4 years or so. There’s nothing in Sabalenka’s form that would lead me to believe otherwise. Sinner is so good on hardcourts. So I think I’m playing it safe and going the 2 S’s,” Davenport said.
Courier, on the other hand, expressed that Iga Świątek and Carlos Alcaraz will win the 2026 Australian Open, subsequently completing a Career Grand Slam–an achievement that involves winning each of the four Major titles during a player’s career.
“I got two athletes doing something at a very young age, which is really rare in this sport: I got a double Career Slam happening here. Iga Świątek completing her sets of all the Majors, and Carlos Alcaraz echoing that a day later. That’s what I’m thinking,” Courier said.
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Prakash Amritraj added that he also predicts Sabalenka will triumph on the women’s side and believes Alcaraz will complete his Career Grand Slam in Melbourne.
“On the women’s side, I do think Sabalenka is in a little bit of a category on her own. Anything can happen, but I’m going with the multiple-time champ over here, and on the men’s side, I thought about it last night, thought Sinner. Woke up this morning, thought Sinner. Then we ran the clip of Carlos, and he was wearing the Lakers jersey, and he got me in my feels. I think he’s completing the career Grand Slam,” Amritraj added.
As of now, at the 2026 Australian Open, Sabalenka and Alcaraz have both advanced to the second round after winning their first-round matches against Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah and Adam Walton, respectively. Meanwhile, Sinner and Świątek are yet to play their first-round matches at the Grand Slam tournament.
