Australian Open 2026 - Men’s Singles

Choose your Champion

  • Total voters
    91
  • Poll closed .
tennis_pro said:
I gonna give it to Shelton. He's like the new and declined Ferrer. Good enough to beat every non top 10 player on tour, but absolutely completely and utterly useless against the top players. Ferrer at least could cause an upset once every blue moon, but with Shelton he's taking all the QF (and sometimes SF with a good draw) slots and wastes them every time.

Expect him to beat Ruud in 4 here and fully expect him to get straight setted by Sinner.
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I feel like that's De Minaur who beats all the players he should beat but has no chance against the top guys because he doesn't have the weapons. A guy that got to where he's at because of hard work and speed around the court.
 
NYTennisfan said:
I feel like that's De Minaur who beats all the players he should beat but has no chance against the top guys because he doesn't have the weapons. A guy that got to where he's at because of hard work and speed around the court.
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They're basically brothers. The only difference is that Shelton has the serve and de Minaur has speed.
 
tennis_pro said:
I gonna give it to Shelton. He's like the new and declined Ferrer. Good enough to beat every non top 10 player on tour, but absolutely completely and utterly useless against the top players. Ferrer at least could cause an upset once every blue moon, but with Shelton he's taking all the QF (and sometimes SF with a good draw) slots and wastes them every time.

Expect him to beat Ruud in 4 here and fully expect him to get straight setted by Sinner.
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You can say that about every other player in the top ten right except Novak now right ?
 
TennisFan3 said:
If Sinner can conquer the heat today, he will beat Novak. I think Novak has a much better chance to beat Alcaraz than he has to beat Sinner.
I don't see how Novak, in any condition, beats Sinner, but I can certainly see the Serb getting past the inconsistent Alcaraz.
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If the conditions are bad I pick Djokovic to win over Sinner.
 
atatu said:
You can say that about every other player in the top ten right except Novak now right ?
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Kind of, but for different reasons.

1) Just not good enough:
You got de Minaur, Shelton, Fritz, Aliassime, Bublik (even if he was serious) - they reached their ceiling and their ceiling is nowhere close to challenge the top players when it matters. They could probably snag a meaningless win in a 500 or Masters once in a blue moon, but in a Slam? Alcaraz/Sinner would have to levels below their best and I would still they take them lol.

2) Heavily declined or declining:
Djokovic, Zverev, Medvedev - Medvedev has fallen off a cliff, Zverev is still moping around the top 5, but he's clearly a worse player than ever a year or two again, let alone his 2018-2022 version. Djokovic at almost 39 needs no explanation.

I'll give Musetti another year, cause he has improved a lot and even before he can definitely give the top 2 a run for their money on clay. So yeah, it's kinda sad that the guy who has the highest odds of causing a major upset is STILL Djokovic who's almost 40. Tien has given me some hope with dispatching Medvedev very easily, even if it's a declined version of Medvedev.

Quite a difference compared to 5/10/15 years ago where outside the big 3 (who I still think were better than Sinner/Alcaraz) you had guys like Tsonga, Del Potro, Murray, Wawrinka, Roddick, Berdych etc. who could cause upsets or push the big 3 to 4/5 sets. I could probably expand that list with another 10 players. Nishikori caused upsets, Cilic caused upsets, even freaking Ferrer who got so much hate caused upsets too (beat Nadal twice in HC Slams, beat Del Po at Wimbly, took out Murray at the FO etc.) Today it just doesn't happen. I mean yeah Sinner lost a set and he was playing at 10%, still won in 4 LOL. Collectively the tour outside the top 2 has never been so weak.
 
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tennis_pro said:
Kind of, but for different reasons.

1) Just not good enough:
You got de Minaur, Shelton, Fritz, Aliassime, Bublik (even if he was serious) - they reached their ceiling and their ceiling is nowhere close to challenge the top players when it matters. They could probably snag a meaningless win in a 500 or Masters once in a blue moon, but in a Slam? Alcaraz/Sinner would have to levels below their best and I would still they take them lol.

2) Heavily declined or declining:
Djokovic, Zverev, Medvedev - Medvedev has fallen off a cliff, Zverev is still moping around the top 5, but he's clearly a worse player than ever a year or two again, let alone his 2018-2022 version. Djokovic at almost 39 needs no explanation.

I'll give Musetti another year, cause he has improved a lot and even before he can definitely give the top 2 a run for their money on clay. So yeah, it's kinda sad that the guy who has the highest odds of causing a major upset is STILL Djokovic who's almost 40. Tien has given me a lot of hope with dispatching Medvedev very easily, even if it's a declined version of Medvedev.

Quite a different with 5/10/15 years ago where outside the big 3 (who I still think were better than Sinner/Alcaraz) you had guys like Tsonga, Del Potro, Murray, Wawrinka, Berdych etc. who could cause upsets or push the big 3 to 4/5 sets. Today it just doesn't happen. I mean yeah Sinner lost a set and he was playing at 10%, still won in 4 LOL.
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I disagree that Shelton reached his ceiling, he has the ability to be a challenger if he reached full potential but that doesn't seem likely. The others I agree with, they're limited. Bublik has the talent but not even remotely close to the mentality needed to be elite.

The late 2000s to mid 2010s were truly a special era of tennis. In addition to the Big 3, having two other multi-slam winners in the tough era and a guy in Del Potro who almost certainly would have been a multi-slam winner if injuries didn't rob him of his prime. Tsonga and Berdych capable of beating the top guys when they were in the zone, Soderling as well before injuries robbed him. It was the strongest era of tennis BY FAR and no era outside of maybe the mid to late 80s is comparable.
 
NYTennisfan said:
I disagree that Shelton reached his ceiling, he has the ability to be a challenger if he reached full potential but that doesn't seem likely. The others I agree with, they're limited. Bublik has the talent but not even remotely close to the mentality needed to be elite.
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I don't think Shelton is that good, I really don't. I think he's like 0.8 Ferrer - playing to his ranking, but just completely out of sorts against the top 10 even, let alone the top 2 where his record is absolutely abysmal.

He's got zero impressive wins in my eyes other than maybe beating Sinner in Shanghai in 2023 before Sinner really upped his level. Musetti has had more top 10 wins since 2025 Monte Carlo than Shelton in his entire career and his top 10 wins have been more impressive including beating Djokovic, Alcaraz, Zverev a few times and as I said he's clearly playing better with time. Shelton is like Ferrer, maybe even like a more consistent Isner. But hell, even Isner's upset capabilities were way higher looking how he beat all big 3 and multiple times LOL.

Dude's your typical top 10 placeholder until someone better (Tien) comes along and takes it away from him, hopefully for good. Being in the top 10 used to mean something now you have a dude ranked 6th or whatever playing against a top 2 player like Sinner and the bookies (correctly) give Sinner 1,07 odds of taking him down in a Slam QF, practically a given. It's a joke LOL. Shelton at 23/24 isn't gonna suddenly go from this to being a world beater, he'll improve to a point where he can push for more tie-breaks lost maybe and that's about it.
 
tennis_pro said:
I don't think Shelton is that good, I really don't. I think he's like 0.8 Ferrer - playing to his ranking, but just completely out of sorts against the top 10 even, let alone the top 2 where his record is absolutely abysmal.

He's got zero impressive wins in my eyes other than maybe beating Sinner in Shanghai in 2023 before Sinner really upped his level. Musetti has had more top 10 wins since 2025 Monte Carlo than Shelton in his entire career and his top 10 wins have been more impressive including beating Djokovic, Alcaraz, Zverev a few times and as I said he's clearly playing better with time. Shelton is like Ferrer, maybe even like a more consistent Isner. But hell, even Isner's upset capabilities were way higher looking how he beat all big 3 and multiple times LOL.

Dude's your typical top 10 placeholder until someone better (Tien) comes along and takes it away from him, hopefully for good. Being in the top 10 used to mean something now you have a dude ranked 6th or whatever playing against a top 2 player like Sinner and the bookies (correctly) give Sinner 1,07 odds of taking him down in a Slam QF, practically a given. It's a joke LOL. Shelton at 23/24 isn't gonna suddenly go from this to being a world beater, he'll improve to a point where he can push for more tie-breaks lost maybe and that's about it.
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I just mean in terms of his ability to make all the shots combined with his speed and that nuclear weapon of a serve. He hasn't put it together hence why he hasn't been able to get the big wins yet but the ability is there with him IF he puts it all together unlike the others in the top 10 outside of maybe Musetti.
 
NYTennisfan said:
I just mean in terms of his ability to make all the shots combined with his speed and that nuclear weapon of a serve. He hasn't put it together hence why he hasn't been able to get the big wins yet but the ability is there with him IF he puts it all together unlike the others in the top 10 outside of maybe Musetti.
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Ok, he's 23 (24 in October), let's wait until he's 25, because most players peak around that age.

However, from my experience (and I've been a tennis fan for over 25 years and I've followed hundreds of players), it's extremely rare for a player to show so "little" promise at 23 and then go a level up from here. If the X-factor is there you very often see some glimpses here and there at 18-21. I would draw the line at 22, even Fed didn't do much compared to his peak until he was almost 22, but once you reach 23 and you aren't on a clear upward trajectory the odds of you suddenly starting to play a lot better decrease dramatically. Even Wawrinka (the ultimate exception) who was a super late bloomer had more top 10 wins at the same age as Shelton does now LOL, but for him it was pretty much all mental, he had all the tools from the get go. I don't think Shelton is mentally weak, I just think he's not good enough to become a world beater, I see him more as a solid cosy decent player in the 15-30 range with a career high rank at 7-10. Unfortunately with top 2/3 tier players being non existent in this era suddenly you got someone like Shelton being firmly in the top 5-10.
 
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Jack the Hack said:
Looks to me like Spizzirri thrives off pace like a good counter-puncher. When Sinner started hitting slower and more into the middle of the court, Eliot had a harder time generating power and finding angles for winners. But let's be clear, Sinner was in survival mode and I'm sure Spizzirri's mind was racing, so the mental gymnastics going on were probably the biggest hurdles. Lots of drama ahead, I'm sure.
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This is alround bad for Spizzirri who seems to have dropped out of the match and it more like Fizzeri now
 
As a couple others have mentioned, this is the most scratch Slam in quite a while for the men's side, with 7 out of the top 8 seeds making the QFs.
Trivia: when was the last men's Slam at which this happened?

2017 Roland Garros (the 5 seed, Raonic, lost in the 4R, and 20 seed, PCB, made the quarters).
 
tennis_pro said:
Ok, he's 23 (24 in October), let's wait until he's 25, because most players peak around that age.

However, from my experience (and I've been a tennis fan for over 25 years and I've followed hundreds of players), it's extremely rare for a player to show so "little" promise at 23 and then go a level up from here. If the X-factor is there you very often see some glimpses here and there at 18-21. I would draw the line at 22, even Fed didn't do much compared to his peak until he was almost 22, but once you reach 23 and you aren't on a clear upward trajectory the odds of you suddenly starting to play a lot better decrease dramatically. Even Wawrinka (the ultimate exception) who was a super late bloomer had more top 10 wins at the same age as Shelton does now LOL, but for him it was pretty much all mental, he had all the tools from the get go. I don't think Shelton is mentally weak, I just think he's not good enough to become a world beater, I see him more as a solid cosy decent player in the 15-30 range with a career high rank at 7-10. Unfortunately with top 2/3 tier players being non existent in this era suddenly you got someone like Shelton being firmly in the top 5-10.
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I'm just saying in terms of god given talent and potential IF he puts it all together he has the ability to be a factor deep in slams. I'm not saying that he's likely to reach that potential but the talent is there is what I'm saying.
 
NYTennisfan said:
I'm just saying in terms of god given talent and potential IF he puts it all together he has the ability to be a factor deep in slams. I'm not saying that he's likely to reach that potential but the talent is there is what I'm saying.
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He's already making deep Slam runs and playing to his ranking, he's beating everyone he's supposed to. If he wants go go up from here he has to take down other top tenners and do better against Alcaraz/Sinner, push them to 4/5 sets at least. You think he can do that?
 
tennis_pro said:
He's already making deep Slam runs and playing to his ranking, he's beating everyone he's supposed to. If he wants go go up from here he has to take down other top tenners and do better against Alcaraz/Sinner, push them to 4/5 sets at least. You think he can do that?
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If he improves his shot tolerance I do think he's capable of pushing them. We saw some of that at the French Open last year against Alcaraz when he played a more controlled game and pushed Carlos. He was playing the best tennis of his career before that shoulder injury at the US Open and hasn't really bounced back to his previous form so we'll see.
 
tennis_pro said:
Ok, he's 23 (24 in October), let's wait until he's 25, because most players peak around that age.

However, from my experience (and I've been a tennis fan for over 25 years and I've followed hundreds of players), it's extremely rare for a player to show so "little" promise at 23 and then go a level up from here. If the X-factor is there you very often see some glimpses here and there at 18-21. I would draw the line at 22, even Fed didn't do much compared to his peak until he was almost 22, but once you reach 23 and you aren't on a clear upward trajectory the odds of you suddenly starting to play a lot better decrease dramatically. Even Wawrinka (the ultimate exception) who was a super late bloomer had more top 10 wins at the same age as Shelton does now LOL, but for him it was pretty much all mental, he had all the tools from the get go. I don't think Shelton is mentally weak, I just think he's not good enough to become a world beater, I see him more as a solid cosy decent player in the 15-30 range with a career high rank at 7-10. Unfortunately with top 2/3 tier players being non existent in this era suddenly you got someone like Shelton being firmly in the top 5-10.
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This thing is Shelton only turned pro when he was 20 after 2 years of college, so that makes him very different than the majority of the hundreds of players you seen in the last 25 year s(majority of whom turned pro between 16-18). He didn't even play much tennis until he was 13(was more Into football). Can you imagine what a 14 year old Alcatraz or Sinner would have done to a 14 year old Shelton? It would have looked like that lady at the ITF event serving from the wrong side of the court. And now he's top 10 and getting sets at RG off Alcaraz. That's kind of amazing imo. He had never even been outside the country until January 2023(when he made QF at AO)

Shelton at 17-18 would have been destroyed by pretty much everyone on the pro tour. He had zero pro prospects when his college career began(he actually started out as only the #5 player on his team - the 4 guys ahead of him are probably working desk jobs now). I think that shows a pretty special talent and work ethic/athleticism to go from that level to top 10(after only 2 full years on tour - it took a lot more years for pretty much everyone on tour to crack the top 10 - Medvedev, Rublev Fritz, Bublik, Ruud, Musetti etc - and especially Ferrer!) Shelton's very much a work in progress, maybe he'll stay at this level but he's had so little tour experience compared to his peers, you can't dismiss the possibility of him improving considerably in the next 5 year(I'll say he might peak at 27 - only fair since he turned pro at 20. I bet he'll have some coaching changes in the next few years, I imagine a super coach ala Cahill is not out of the question. He's barely been on tour, very different to late bloomer Wawrinka etc (who was a pro at 17 -so he had a lot more cracks at playing top 10 players by the time he was Shelton's age)
 
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Fabrivitx said:
Hes cooked. I dont see in any way how he can handle a peaking Alcaraz. Will be fortunate to make the final
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I don't trust the weak and frail body of Sinner to reach the final, but I hope he does. I want Carlos to be the youngest male to complete the career slam, with the beanpole standing there holding another runner-up tray.
 
CarlitosWay said:
I don't trust the weak and frail body of Sinner to reach the final, but I hope he does. I want Carlos to be the youngest male to complete the career slam, with the beanpole standing there holding another runner-up tray.
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For him its better to lose before the final, maybe to Shelton and not old man djoko. Hes not phisically there to challenge Alcaraz endurance and crazy maniac defense, he will get cooked in the final. Better lose now.
 
I have to give credits due to @tennis_pro , this genetic flawed Sinner will never challenge this peaking Carlos, hs forehand is absurd and hes swagging around the court like a mix of Fed and Nadal. Sinner better lose to Shelton because the humiliation ritual in the Final is going to be legendary.
 
Subway Tennis said:
The scheduling of the Sinner match was a bit of an eye opener. i guess they had a busy day and night session with men's matches that had star power on both sides of the net and an aussie girl making a run against swiatek and ended up with nowhere to put Sinner. They may have been worried about the potential of the match as a second week showcase given the mismatch and the fact that Darderi was not going to be able to make a showcase match style opponent and didn't want to disappoint reserve ticket holders. Who knows, though? Maybe Sinner requested to play MCA. certainly seemed happy based on how he played lol.
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The truth is the sinner camp wanted a fast court to end points fast, laver arena is lot more slower and everybody has said that, and Sinner didnt want to play in hardcourt clay against darderi since he was still not 100% after what happened
 
Fabrivitx said:
The truth is the sinner camp wanted a fast court to end points fast, laver arena is lot more slower and everybody has said that, and Sinner didnt want to play in hardcourt clay against darderi since he was still not 100% after what happened
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Yes I think there is a very good chance Sinner requested to be out there. Certainly makes the most sense in this case. I'm sure Sinner would have won easily regardless but he is in a better place as a result of the MCA scheduling.
 
Any thoughts on the Tien vs Zverev match tonight? I don’t think Chainnzzz n the Aussie heat are a good combo n Learner has been playing great.
1 - 1 head to head - hope I can stay up for the entire match.
 
Bisquick said:
Any thoughts on the Tien vs Zverev match tonight? I don’t think Chainnzzz n the Aussie heat are a good combo n Learner has been playing great.
1 - 1 head to head - hope I can stay up for the entire match.
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Well, Tien has beaten Z on HC (Acapulco '25, straights) and says he's feeling good, so..

Rooting for him, cause I love his game. Go, Learner!
 
RUUUUDDD!!!! Hahaha. Excuse my excitement. Big tennis fan from Norway here. I’m glad we made it to only a few more matches away from the title but I took off from work today and I’m getting a bit flabbergasted as I can’t find when Ruud is going to play.
 
FRV4 said:
RUUUUDDD!!!! Hahaha. Excuse my excitement. Big tennis fan from Norway here. I’m glad we made it to only a few more matches away from the title but I took off from work today and I’m getting a bit flabbergasted as I can’t find when Ruud is going to play.
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He’s not going to play bc he already lost to Shelton (I was shocked by that btw)
 
At least we will have couple of potentially intriguing sem finals.

I think Zverev can at least give Raz a decent game if he plays at level of last couple of matches.

I can't see him winning but should at least make match competitive and make Raz really work for it

Then we will almost certainly have either Novak or Musetti against Sinner and whilst I cannot see them stopping Sinner , I can see Novak or Musetti extending him and giving him a match.

However, looks 90% like another Sinner v Raz final.
 
I had Sinner winning this tournament but I think I'm changing my pick to Carlito. He's playing GOD mode tennis right now.
 
Watching Musetti tonight was like watching an artist. He was utterly brilliant and beautiful at the same time. I hope he can do the same against Djokovic.
 
How was Alcaraz/de Minaur quality-wise? Highlights looked like a lot of fun given how much of a beatdown the scoreline was
 
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