Two all-Aussie doubles combinations will form part of the 12-strong local contingent in the men’s and women’s doubles draws at Australian Open 2026.
The entry lists, featuring impressive combinations, legends of the doubles discipline and some singles superstars, are also notable for the fact three Australian men in the field are former AO doubles champions.
AO 2026 ENTRY LISTS: Men's doubles | Women's doubles
Rinky Hijikata – the AO 2023 men’s doubles champion alongside Jason Kubler and who reached a second Slam doubles final at Wimbledon last year – is joined in the field by AO 2024 champion Matt Ebden (partnering American Rajeev Ram) and 2017 winner John Peers (playing alongside another American in Evan King).
As well as AO doubles titles for Ebden, Hijikata and Peers, other Aussies have recently enjoyed incredible success at the AO, including Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, who partnered to win the 2022 title. Peers reached a second final in 2019, while Max Purcell teamed with Luke Saville and Ebden to reach the 2020 and 2022 finals, respectively.
There has been at least one Australian in six of the past nine AO men’s doubles finals.
HONOUR ROLL: Australian Open men's doubles
To maintain that successful trend, the Aussies must contend with an exceptional field, headlined by all reigning major champion combinations.
Heading the list are Brits Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool – who beat Hijikata and David Pel in the Wimbledon final – while defending AO champions Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten are the second-ranked team on the list.
Coming in behind them are Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, who scooped both the Roland Garros and US Open titles in 2025.
Cousins Arthur Rinderknech (world No.29) and Valentin Vacherot (No.31) – who played off in an historic Shanghai Masters final in October – are the pair with the highest combined singles ranking.
They are two of nine players with top-40 singles rankings among the doubles field; the highest-ranked of those is world No.11 Alexander Bublik, teaming with fellow Kazakhstani Alexander Shevchenko.
When it comes to all-Australian duos, Hijikata teams with fellow 24-year-old Tristan Schoolkate – arguably Jannik Sinner’s toughest test in singles at AO 2025 – while former world No.1 Storm Hunter will partner Australia’s top-ranked woman in singles, Maya Joint.
RELATED: Joint targeting deeper runs at biggest events
There are several other notable Aussie contenders, including 2024 US Open doubles champion Jordan Thompson in partnership with Pierre-Hugues Herbert – a doubles icon who completed the career Grand Slam at AO 2019 – and John-Patrick Smith, who enjoyed the best doubles season of his career in 2025 and enters with Czech Adam Pavlasek.
In the women’s field, Olivia Gadecki returns a year after her AO 2025 mixed doubles triumph with Peers to partner American Desirae Krawczyk.
Gadecki and Peers beat Smith and Kimberly Birrell in the first all-Australian AO mixed doubles final in the Open era.
Australia’s top-ranked player is Ellen Perez, the lefty who teams with Demi Schuurs in a combination of players who have both peaked at world No.7.
The women’s field is led by defending champions Katerina Siniakova – a 10-time major doubles champion – and Taylor Townsend, a combination voted the WTA’s Doubles Team of the Year in 2025.
HONOUR ROLL: Australian Open women's doubles
Second on the list is the all-Italian duo of Sara Errani and Jasmini Paolini, the reigning Roland Garros champions.
Paolini’s fellow top-10 rival, Jessica Pegula, enters with compatriot McCartney Kessler, while there are another five top-20 singles players – Clara Tauson, Linda Noskova, Liudmila Samsonova, Victoria Mboko and Elise Mertens – competing in doubles.
Samsonova will play with world No.21 Diana Shnaider, giving that pair the best combined singles ranking among the field.
Other notable pairings include Czechs Marketa Vondrousova and Tereza Valentova, AO 2020 champion Sofia Kenin with Laura Siegemund, and the ever-popular combination of Jelena Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-Wei – the Australian Open and Wimbledon finalists in 2025.