A slew of records are on the line as wheelchair tennis action comes to a head at Australian Open 2026.
Japanese prodigy Tokito Oda leads the charge, and will be hunting for history on multiple fronts.
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The current men’s world No.1 must’ve arrived in Melbourne with sore shoulders – he’s held aloft the past three Grand Slam wheelchair singles trophies across Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open.
Should Oda romp to the AO title, he’d become just the second man ever to win four consecutive major wheelchair singles titles.
MORE: AO 2026 men's wheelchair singles draw
The 19-year-old would also become the youngest man to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time across any format of professional tennis.
He’s already well on track, having bested Tom Egberink 6-4 6-4 on Thursday to advance to the semifinals.
The one man who will likely stand in his way? Thirty-three time Grand Slam champion and Paralympic gold medallist Alfie Hewett, no less.
Together, the pair have won every men’s major singles title on offer since the US Open in 2022.
Like Oda, the Brit has not dropped a set in singles so far in Melbourne.
Hewett dispatched countryman and illustrious doubles partner Gordon Reid 6-2 6-3 on Thursday, and will face third seed Martin de la Puente in Friday’s semifinal.
If the 28-year-old manages to capture the title, he would be just the third man to win three or more AO wheelchair singles championships.
The Brit was also involved in a major surprise that upended the men’s doubles draw on Thursday. Hewett and Reid’s astonishing streak of six straight AO men’s doubles titles will not continue after the pair fell to Oda and Gustavo Fernandez in the semifinals, who triumphed 6-4 2-6 [10-4].
MORE: AO 2026 men's wheelchair doubles draw
We’re therefore guaranteed a new titlist, as none of the four players contesting Friday’s final have won the doubles trophy at Melbourne Park.
On the women’s singles side, peerless Dutch superstar Diede de Groot returns to Melbourne Park with the aim of extending her outright-best Grand Slam women’s wheelchair singles title collection, currently at 23.
At the Australian Open, however, her six singles titles trails Esther Vergeer’s nine – a gap De Groot will want to begin to close.
MORE: AO 2026 women's wheelchair singles draw
She’s made a promising start, breezing past fellow Dutchwoman and second seed Aniek van Koot 6-2 6-2 on Thursday to set up a semifinal against Wang Ziying.
Hot on her heels is defending women’s singles champion, Yui Kamiji. The Japanese top seed fell agonisingly short of a calendar Grand Slam last year, winning all majors except Wimbledon.
Having won three AO titles, she’ll have her eyes on edging closer to De Groot’s six, as well as kicking off another tilt at winning all four Slams.
In the semifinals, Kamiji faces Li Xiaohui on Friday, the latter of whom is chasing a maiden major singles trophy.
The pair will also battle each other in the doubles final. Kamiji and her partner Zhu Zhenzhen will attempt to break the near-monopoly that Li and Wang had on Grand Slam doubles last year, as the pair won three of the four majors including AO 2025.
In the quad division, Niels Vink is again attempting to complete a career Grand Slam, with the Australian Open remaining the only major singles title he hasn’t attained.
If successful, the Dutchman would become just the sixth singles player, across wheelchair and quad wheelchair formats, to have achieved the feat, after Dylan Alcott, De Groot, Hewett, Shingo Kunieda and Oda.
The first seed made light work of Gonzalo Enrique Lazarte in the quarterfinals, 6-0 6-1, and faces Guy Sasson in the final four on Friday.
MORE: AO 2026 quad wheelchair singles draw
In the quad doubles, local fans will have their eyes on the only remaining Australian in the senior wheelchair draws – Heath Davidson, the owner of four quad doubles titles at Melbourne Park.
Davidson and partner Andy Lapthorne will face off against top seeds Vink and Sasson in Friday’s final.