Jan. 15 (UPI) — Meetings between Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys and Ben Shelton and Jannik Sinner were among potential matches shown in Thursday’s Australian Open draw.

Main draw play for the first Grand Slam of the tennis season will be held Sunday to Feb. 1 in Melbourne. Action will start airing Saturday in the United States because Melbourne is 16 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

Every match from all 15 courts will stream on the ESPN app. Coverage will also be available on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. The respective women’s and men’s finals will air at 3:30 p.m. EST Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 on ESPN, with encores at 9 a.m. on ESPN2.

A total of 256 players are set to compete across men’s and women’s main-draw singles tournaments. Each winner will take home $4.15 million, with the runners-up cashing in for $2.15 million.

No. 2 Jannik Sinner of Italy and No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain are well ahead of the field as favorites to win the men’s title. No. 4 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, No. 12 Daniil Medvedev of Russia and No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany are among the other expected contenders on the men’s circuit.

No. 9 Taylor Fritz, No. 8 Ben Shelton, No. 21 Tommy Paul, No. 27 Learner Tien and No. 31 Frances Tiafoe are among Americans with the best odds of hoisting the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.

Sinner, who won the last two Australian Open crowns, and Alcaraz won the last eight Grand Slam titles. Either Sinner, Alcaraz or Djokovic won 22 of the last 29 Grand Slams, including each of the last 14.

Sinner will attempt to become the second player in the Open Era — since 1968 — to win three consecutive Australian Open titles. Djokovic accomplished the feat twice from 2011 through 2021, when he claimed eight of his 10 Australian Open titles.

Alcaraz will face No. 79 Adam Walton of Australia in his 2026 Australian Open opener. He could meet Paul as soon as the fourth round. No. 6 Alex de Minaur of Australia, Tiafoe and No. 10 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan are among the top players Alcaraz could meet in the quarterfinals.

Zverev, Medvedev and No. 14 Andrey Rublev of Russia are among the top players Alcaraz could see in the semifinals.

Sinner will start his run against fellow No. 94 Hugo Gaston of France. Shelton and No. 13 Casper Ruud of Norway are the top players he could face in the quarterfinals. The Italian could battle Djokovic, Fritz, No. 5 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, No. 33 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and No. 19 Jiri Lehecka and No. 18 Jacub Mensik, both of the Czech Republic, in the semifinals.

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who won Australian Open titles in 2023 and 2024, is favored to win her third crown in four years. No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 5 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and Americans Coco Gauff (No. 3) and Amanda Anisimova (No. 4) are the other Top 5 favorites for the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.

Sabalenka will open her tournament against No. 118 Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah of France. The Belarusian could play No. 29 Emma Raducanu of Great Britain as soon as the third round. No. 7 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, No. 20 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine are the top players she could face in the quarterfinals.

Gauff, No. 8 Mirra Andreeva of Russia, No. 12 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and No. 15 Emma Navarro of the United States are the top players Sabalenka could see in the semifinals.

Gauff, who will start her run against No. 91 Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan, could battle fellow American Venus Williams (No. 576) as soon as the second round. Williams, a wild card, will take on No. 68 Olga Danilovic of Serbia in her first match. Gauff could face off against Navarro in the fourth round.

Andreeva and Svitolina are among the top tennis stars should could see in the quarterfinals.

Swiatek, who will face No. 130 Yue Yuan of China in her opener, could take on No. 16 Naomi Osaka of Japan or No. 18 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia as soon as the fourth round. Rybakina and No. 10 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland are the highest-ranked players she could face in the quarterfinals.

Pegula will battle No. 103 Anastasia Zakharova of Russia in her first match. She could meet fellow American Madison Keys as soon as the fourth round. Anisimova, No. 13 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, No. 24 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and No. 28 Sofia Kenin of the United States are the top players Pegula could battle in the quarterfinals.

Australian Open schedule

All times EST

Saturday

First-round coverage from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. on ESPN+ and from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. on ESPN2

Sunday

First-round coverage from 3 to 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. on ESPN2 and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN+

Monday

First-round coverage from 3 to 7 a.m., 8 to 11 a.m. and 11:15 p.m. to 3 a.m. on ESPN2 and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN+

Tuesday

First and second-round coverage from 3 to 7 a.m., noon to 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. on ESPN2 and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN+

Wednesday

Second-round coverage from 3 to 7 a.m., 2 to 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. on ESPN2 and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN+

Jan. 22

Second and third-round coverage from 3 to 7 a.m., 2 to 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. on ESPN2 and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN+

Jan. 23

Third-round coverage from 3 coverage from 3 to 7 a.m., 2 to 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. on ESPN2 and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN+

Jan. 24

Third-round and Round of 16 coverage from 3 to 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on ESPN2 and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN+

Jan. 25

Third-round and Round of 16 coverage from 3 to 10:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on ESPN2 and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN+

Jan. 26

Round of 16 and quarterfinal coverage from 3 to 7 a.m., noon to 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on ESPN2

Jan. 27

Quarterfinal coverage from 3 to 7 a.m. on ESPN and 1 to 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on ESPN2.

Jan. 28

Quarterfinal coverage from 3 to 7 a.m. on ESPN and 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2

Jan. 29

Women’s semifinal coverage from 3:30 to 7:30 a.m. on ESPN with encore at 3 p.m. on ESPN2; men’s semifinal at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN

Jan. 30

Men’s semifinal coverage at 3:30 a.m. on ESPN with encore at 2 p.m. on ESPN2

Jan. 31

Women’s championship coverage at 3:30 a.m. on ESPN with encore at 9 a.m. on ESPN2

Feb. 1

Men’s championship coverage at 3:30 a.m. on ESPN with encore at 9 a.m. on ESPN2