At Australian Open 2026, qualifiers have a message for the rest of the field: beware.
Three seeds were felled by qualifiers in first-round action across the men’s and women’s singles draws, and a total of 16 qualifiers punched their tickets into the round of 64, where they should not be underestimated.
MORE: All the scores from AO 2026
On the Served with Andy Roddick podcast outlining AO 2026 predictions, the American former world No.1 and four-time AO semifinalist explained his theory of repeatedly selecting qualifiers to progress through the draw.
“Even if someone’s ranked higher - 70, 80, 90 in the world - I value someone going through the qualifying tournament so much, getting on site, getting in the conditions, winning three matches,” he said.
“I just value a qualifier [and] give a 10 per cent edge to someone who’s already been on site playing matches for a week.”
One of the most dangerous qualifiers is perhaps Zeynep Sonmez, who on Wednesday defeated Anna Bondar in straight sets, becoming the first of her cohort to secure passage to the round of 32.
“It definitely helped me to play three matches in quallies because I got used to courts, I got used to weather and everything,” she said. “As I played, I started to feel better on the court with my shots and everything.”
The 23-year-old is the first Turkish woman in the Open era to record AO main draw victories and after taking out 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in three sets on Sunday, she’s well positioned for a deep run. In the third round, she’ll face Yulia Putintseva for the first time and can expect stands to once again be packed with exuberant Turkish fans.
“I have never experienced something like this,” she said, describing the atmosphere created by her compatriots on Court 7 on Wednesday. “I felt like I was at home.”
Great Britain’s Arthur Fery, who toppled 20th seed Flavio Cobolli at John Cain Arena in the first round, also supported Roddick’s theory, although the Italian’s untimely stomach pain also played a part in the 7-6(1) 6-4 6-1 scoreline.
“I felt great, I felt very comfortable on that court. Obviously playing three matches beforehand in quallies really helped,” Fery said. The Brit secured his maiden AO main draw berth without dropping a set against Edward Winter, Bernard Tomic and Dino Prizmic, who was seeded 14 in qualifying.
Fery’s mother flew to Melbourne after learning her son had qualified and would be competing in the round of 128 at a major outside Wimbledon.
“It's obviously a long way, but at least I made it worth it - she can see at least two matches - hopefully more,” he said following the Cobolli match.
Like Fery, Arthur Gea didn’t drop a set during qualifying, in which he vanquished a trifecta of higher-ranked opponents including Adolfo Daniel Vallejo and Roman Andres Burruchaga, the second seed who was on the cusp of direct entry into AO 2026.
Stepping up to the challenge of a tough opening round against 17th seed Jiri Lehecka, the Frenchman shocked his heralded foe 7-5 7-6(1) 7-5 to set up a second-round clash with AO 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka.
“It's going to be a really good match, I know him since I [began to] play tennis so I was watching him on the TV,” the 21-year-old said.
Gea hadn’t been born when the Swiss star contested his first professional match. “Now it's his last year, so I'm really happy to play against these guys, they are legend[s].”
“I'm going to try to win it, of course, and to applaud him for his big career.”
Eyeing a deep run at his first AO, the ambitious Gea said he’s aiming to follow in the footsteps of countryman and friend Arthur Cazaux, who reached the round of 16 at AO 2024 on his Melbourne Park debut.
Nishesh Basavareddy, the American who saved two match points in the second round of qualifying, said fighting for his place in the main draw helped to fuel his opening-round five-set win over Christopher O’Connell.
“Having confidence that I could dig it out in some of the big moments came from quallies for sure, so I think that gave me an extra [boost]…you're riding a little bit of a wave.”
Wu Yibing, who qualified at a major for the first time since the 2022 US Open, agreed that the match toughness earned through qualifiers is an advantage when facing opponents who come into a match after only hitting on the practice courts.
“It's totally different when you actually step on court, [and experience] the tension,” he following his win over Luca Nardi.
Even so, the Chinese world No.168 would prefer to get his ranking high enough to obtain direct entry into Grand Slams.
“If it's possible, I would love to play straight main draw because it saves the hustle, and you have a week to play other tournaments…but [I] can't complain.”