The Australian Open has already seen some big names exit after the first round of the 2026 tournament.
Top seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka enjoyed straight sets victories to progress to the second round of the tournament.
However, that was not the case for all top players, with sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime unable to complete his first round match at the Australian Open this year.
As well as some top seeded players exiting the draw, there were also four Grand Slam singles champions who were unable to win their first round matches in Melbourne.
Venus Williams headlines the list of Grand Slam champions already out of the Australian Open
Venus Williams
Perhaps the highest-profile of these Grand Slam champions to already be out of the Australian Open is seven-time major singles winner Venus Williams.
After Williams lost her fifth consecutive singles match at the Hobart International, many had low expectations for the 45-year-old coming into the Australian Open.
However, the former world number one nearly proved many of her doubters wrong, with Williams producing some vintage tennis to win the first set of her match against Olga Danilovic.
Despite losing the second set, Williams found herself 4-0 up in the decider and looked on track to win her first Grand Slam singles match since 2021.
It was not to be for Williams, as Danilovic made an almighty comeback and won six consecutive games to beat the American, 6(5)-7 6-3 6-4.
Williams is also now out of the doubles tournament, which could potentially signal the end of her Australian Open career.
Sloane Stephens
Williams is one of three American Grand Slam champions already out of the Australian Open, with Sloane Stephens joining her.
Stephens broke her 13-match losing streak to win her first match since 2024 and come through Australian Open qualifying.
The former US Open champion, who has fallen outside the top 1000 after struggling with a foot injury last year, was then dealt a difficult first round draw against former world number one Karolina Pliskova.
Stephens had won six of her seven previous matches against Pliskova, but it was not meant to be at the Australian Open.
Pliskova beat Stephens, 7-6(7) 6-2, to win her first Grand Slam match since 2024 and send the former world number three home.
Barbora Krejcikova
The only non-American Grand Slam singles champion to have lost in the first round of the Australian Open is Barbora Krejcikova.
Krejcikova, who is a former French Open and Wimbledon champion, has faced many battles with back and knee injuries over the past year.
As a result, this has caused the former world number two to fall outside the top 50 in the world rankings.
This meant that Krejcikova was not seeded for the Australian Open, and was therefore handed a tough draw against 23rd seed Diana Shnaider.
Despite winning the first set against Shnaider, Krejcikova was unable to keep this up and was ultimately beaten, 2-6 6-3 6-3.
Sofia Kenin
From the four Grand Slam champions who have already exited the tournament in Melbourne, only one of them is actually a former Australian Open champion.
That person is Sofia Kenin, who won the Australian Open title in 2020 and came into this year’s tournament as the 27th seed.
However, since her run to the Australian Open title, Kenin has only actually won one match at the Melbourne major.
Kenin continued her poor recent record at the tournament after losing to her compatriot Peyton Stearns in straight sets.
This signals a fourth consecutive defeat for Kenin at the Australian Open, who has not won a match at the tournament since 2021.
All four of these players will now have a long wait until the next major tournament, with the French Open getting underway in May.
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