Which players have caught your eye so far in 2026?

 

FTLers love a bit of recency bias and lets face it - what else do we have to go on as we head into the Australian Open.

Which players have caught your attention this week and might make your final cut?

Has anyone been watching the United Cup? There have been some eye catching performances there:

Coco Gauff: 14m

Coco continues to be unpredictable. A woeful performance against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro suggested that her serve and forehand issues from last year are very much present but otherwise she played well at the United Cup culminating in her 4th straight sets win over Iga Swiatek in a row. (remember Iga used to beat her for fun?) What we can say is that when she's on, she's a match for anyone.

Hubert Hurkacz 5.25m How good is it to have a (muscle bound) Hubi back and he looks like he's on pretty decent form, easily despatching Zverev in Poland's match against Germany but just falling short in his match with ADM. It may take him a while to get totally up to speed but at that price and with him scheduled to play in Game Week 2, he might well be worth a punt.

Belinda Bencic 8.5 Momma Bencic (accompanied at her practice sessions by little Bella) has been terrific this week almost singlehandedly securing Switzerland's spot in the final with a little help from Jakub Paul in the doubles. She had to dig deep against Mertens but she's definitely got what it takes to go deep at the AO.

The same can be said for Elina Svitolina (8m) who like Belinda has plenty of experience and a never say die attitude. She's in the final in Auckland and has had to come through some tough battles in the process. The question is - will she have enough when it comes to tougher opponents if she goes deep at the AO?

Alexander Bublik (8m) really seemed to come of age last year, playing some terrific tennis and remarkably securing a reserve spot at the year end finals. Suddenly he realised that it might be a good idea to take tennis a little more seriously. That form seems to have continued into 2026 and the final against Musetti should be a great match.

By contrast Daniil Medvedev (9.5m) had a pretty rough year by his standards and ultimately parted ways with his long term coach Gilles Cervara. His form actually picked up significantly during the Asian swing with new coach Thomas Johanssen and that form seems to be continuing into 2026, Medvedev will play Nakashima in the ATP Brisbane final.

And we have a mouth watering final to look forward to at the WTA event in Brisbane.

Dare you go into the Australian Open without two time Champ Aryna Sabalenka? She'll set you back a cool 20m but she's looking every bit the no 1 at the moment.

Her opponent Marta Kostyuk has got everyone talking this week. Marta will only set you back 6m and she looks as if she has got big ambitions this season. Straight sets wins over Anisimova, Andreeva and Pegula suggest that we have a very different Marta from the player who struggled with confidence last year.