Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper among six Brits to qualify for Australian Open as Katie Boulter misses out on ranking.
Six British players, including former US Open champion Emma Raducanu and No. 10 ranked male player Jack Draper, have been given direct entry to the Australian Open. They all qualify for their tournament based on their current ranking. The tournament gets underway on January 18, live on TNT Sports and discovery+. One player who missed out on qualification is ex-British No. 1 Katie Boulter.
Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu is among six British players to have qualified directly for the first major of 2026.
The Australian Open gets underway on Sunday, 18 January 2026, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
There are 128 players in the main draw for the men’s and women’s tournaments at Grand Slam events.
The bulk of entries come through ranking, typically those inside the top 100 in the world, with a cut-off date of December 8, 2025, for the event at Melbourne Park.
That applies to Raducanu, the British No. 1, who reached the third round Down Under last season, her best performance at the event.
She will be joined in Australia by two of her compatriots, Sonay Kartal and Fran Jones
The former of those players made her debut in Melbourne last year, reaching the first round, before making a stir at Wimbledon, where she was beaten by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the last-16.
Jones last appeared in the main draw in Australia in 2021, coming through qualifying before a first round exit to Shelby Rogers.
Former British No. 1 Katie Boulter will have to take the same route if she is going to make it though.
The 29-year-old has missed out on direct entry after slipping down the rankings over the last few months.
She was seeded 22nd in Australia last year and made it to the second round.
However, Boulter won just 14 Tour-level matches during the 2025 season, with form and fitness deserting her.
That has led to a split with long-time coach Biljana Veselinovic, alongside whom she won three WTA titles.
The former World No. 23 will now enter the qualifying draw, which takes place in Melbourne from January 12-15.
Draper headlines British men Down Under
Alongside the trio of British women in the main draw, three British men have been granted direct entry for the tournament.
The highest ranked of them is Jack Draper, who made it to the fourth round in Australia last year before being forced to retire against Carlos Alcaraz.
That remains his best performance at the tournament, and also provided the perfect start to a year in which he would reach a career-high No. 4 in the world.
Injury has meant the 2024 US Open semi-finalist, who lifted his first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells in March, has since slipped to 10th in the rankings.
However, he is now back fighting fit, and will partner Raducanu at the United Cup, a precursor to the Australian Open in early January.
Joining Draper in Melbourne will be another former Indian Wells champion in Cameron Norrie.
The 30-year-old will also be seeded for the tournament, thanks to holding 27th spot in the rankings.
Norrie endured a tough start to 2025, including a first round elimination in Australia, so a good run could lead to a march up the rankings thanks to picking up some much-needed points.
Making up the trio is Jacob Fearnley, who burst on to the scene at Wimbledon in 2024 before reaching the last-32 in Melbourne last year, his joint-best performance at a major.
His run was ended in straight sets by Alexander Zverev, but it was the start of a magnificent 12 months in which the 29-year-old climbed to a career-high 49th in the world.
He has since slipped to 79th, so will be hoping for a similar, if not better, performance Down Under in January.
