The busy first week of the 2026 tennis season in Hong Kong, Brisbane, Sydney, and Perth has come and gone. Here are my top takeaways from three very exciting tournaments.
1. Hubert Hurkacz is back. Hurkacz missed the second half of 2025 with a knee injury, but returned with a vengeance in 2026. The 28-year-old Pole led his country to his first United Cup title, going 4-1 with wins over Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Tallon Griekspoor, and Stan Wawrinka while losing only three to Alex de-Minatter. Don’t look now, but Hurkacz is leading the race to the Nitto ATP Finals – and rightfully so!
2. The Alexander Bublik of 2025 still exists. After taking four ATP titles in 2025, Bublik already has it after just one week of the new season. No one thought the past year was ridiculous; this Hong Kong result simply confirms what we already knew: Bublik is one of the best players in the world. The 28-year-old Kazakh is inside the top 10 for the first time in his career and will stay there for a long time. while if the mental game stays strong.
3. The end of 2025 Daniil Medvedev is still here. Whatever happened to Medvedev in the first eight months of 2025 remains one of the great mysteries of tennis. However, he ended the year with a title in Almaty, semifinal appearances in Beijing and Shanghai, and a quarterfinal appearance in Paris. Picking up where he left off, Medvedev lifted the trophy in Brisbane on Sunday. Given his form and history at the Australian Open (three runner-ups), I would place him as the third favorite (very distant, of course) behind Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
4. Stefanos Tsitsipas of 2025 I hope not. Tsitsipas was a disaster for most of last year and did not play at all following the US Open. An early return in 2026, however, is encouraging. The 27-year-old Greek scored a 3-0 victory in the United Cup, showing Fritz’s direct anger. Tsitsipas has climbed two places in a serious manner to reach number 32 in the rankings, making him the seed for the Aussie Open. That should get him to at least the third round.
5. Stan Wawrinka fully deserves his AO wild card. Wawrinka deserved an Australian Open wild card regardless of his current form. The fact that he is playing well and looks capable of advancing in a round or two in Melbourne is just a bonus. The 40-year-old helped Switzerland finish second in the United Cup, albeit with just one win. However, three of his four losses have come in three sets against superior opponents – including against Flavio Cobolli in the final tiebreaker.
6. More question marks for Australian Open hopefuls. Taylor Fritz is already dealing with knee tendonitis – far from good at this early stage of the year. The world number 9 went 1-3 in the United Cup, where he traditionally does well. His only win came against Jaume Munar, and that required a ‘third team’. Getting out of the top eight at the Australian Open only adds insult to injury, so Fritz’s prospects don’t look good. Add him to the list of players who are out or in doubt, including Holger Rune, Jack Draper, Arthur Fils (all three have withdrawn), and Novak Djokovic (WD from Adelaide).
7. NextGen participants do not reduce. Alexander Blockx and Raphael Jodar met in the final of the Canberra Challenger (Blockx won 6-4, 6-4). Those are the two stars’ best results for the 2025 NextGen ATP Finals (Blockx finished second in the Learner Tien, Jodar compiled a 2-1 round robin record – including a Tien win). These two guys will watch in 2026.
8. Depth of display of American men. Three of the four semifinalists in Brisbane were Americans (Brandon Nakashima, Alex Michelsen, and Aleksandar Kovacevic). Sebastian Korda reached the quarters. In Hong Kong, Marcos Giron advanced to the semi finals after beating Michael Mmoh in the quarters. Team USA may not have an Australian Open title contender on their hands (who does besides Spain and Italy?), but they can put a record number of guys through the second, third, and fourth rounds at Melbourne Park.
9. Sebastian Baez won on the hard courts for the second time in his career. Baez is the core of the clay court specialist, but he was undefeated in Argentina’s three matches at the United Cup – beating Fritz, Wawrinka and Munar. Those three wins were on the toughest pitches of Baez’s entire career, though he won Winston-Salem’s 2023 title outright. Now the question is whether he can build on this…which he didn’t do following his win over Winston-Salem.
10. We root for Indiana against the Raiders. Dealing with the Battle of the Sexes. The gimmick we really need to see is Indiana vs. the Raiders! Indiana is perfect a carriage. Especially against the Week 18 version of the Raiders (no Maxx Crosby and no Brock Bowers), I think the Hoosiers will have a good chance.
