The Australian Open battle is approaching; out of nine players competing, how many will break through?

For many Chinese fans, the Australian Open means more than just favorable viewing hours; numerous Chinese players have achieved remarkable results here. Li Na reached the women’s singles final three times and claimed one championship; Zhang Shuai made a major breakthrough by ending her Grand Slam singles main draw losing streak at the 2016 Australian Open and also won a valuable doubles title alongside Stosur.

As the first Grand Slam event of the 2026 season, this year’s Australian Open qualifiers will take place on January 12, followed by several exhibition matches on January 13, including the showdown between Zheng Qinwen and Leylah Fernandez, with the main draw draw ceremony scheduled for January 15.

As a hard-court Grand Slam where Chinese players generally perform better, fans naturally have higher expectations for this event. This year, nine players will compete in the qualifiers, with eight women and only one man appearing in next year’s Australian Open qualifying rounds.

Yuan Yue and Zhu Lin lead the women’s singles qualifiers among the Chinese players. Since turning professional in 2017, Yuan Yue won her first WTA singles title in 2024 at Austin and later reached the singles quarterfinals in Indian Wells. Her strong tour results rapidly improved her world ranking.

However, Yuan Yue’s performance in the recently concluded 2025 season was average, and her ranking slipped outside the top 100. She will enter next year’s Australian Open as a qualifier, with her best Melbourne Park result being a first-round singles exit.

Born in 1994, veteran Zhu Lin is the senior among the current Chinese women players. Hampered by injuries and other factors, her recent results have been modest, with her ranking dropping to several hundred this season. Nonetheless, she won the valuable women’s singles gold at this year’s National Games and exited in the first round of qualifying at this year’s Australian Open; her best result here was reaching the fourth round in 2024.

Besides Yuan Yue and Zhu Lin, the other six Chinese women who qualified for next year’s Australian Open singles qualifiers are Bai Zhuoxuan, Gao Xinyu, Wang Xiyu, Guo Hanyu, Ma Yexin, and Wei Sijia. On the men’s side, only Wu Yibing will compete in the qualifiers.

Due to injuries and other setbacks, Wu Yibing has rarely completed all four Grand Slam tournaments in recent seasons. He only qualified for the Australian Open main draw in 2023, where he lost in the first round. So, among these nine qualifiers, who do you think has the best chance to advance?(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)