When does the Australian Open tennis start? Schedule, seeds, prize money, draw, odds, how to watch

Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka are the defending singles champions at the Australian Open. | Getty Images

The Australian Open will take place at Melbourne Park later this month and will be the 113th time the competition has been staged.

The prestigious tournament is the first of the four annual tennis majors – along with Wimbledon, the French Open and the US Open.

Last year saw Jannik Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev in a five-set final to win his first major title, while Aryna Sabalenka successfully defended the women's singles title without losing a set across the entire tournament.

Both will be returning this year as top seeds, along with Novak Djokovic, who has hired Andy Murray as a coach to help him try and win a record 11th title Down Under.

Along with the main men’s and women’s singles competitions, there will be trophies awarded for women’s, men’s and mixed doubles, wheelchair doubles and singles, and boys and girls singles and doubles.

Here’s everything you need to know about the singles tournaments.

When is the Australian Open?

The Australian Open runs from January 12 to January 26.

The women’s singles final will be played on January 25 at 8.30am BST, while the men’s singles title will be decided from 5am on January 26.

What is the schedule for the singles tournaments?

Here’s when the action will be taking place in UK tims.?

• January 12-14: First Round (Women and Men)
• January 15-16: Second Round (Women and Men)
• January 17-18: Third Round (Women and Men)
• January 19-20: Fourth Round (Women and Men)
• January 21-22: Quarter-finals (Women and Men)
• January 23: Women's semi-finals
• January 24: Men's semi-finals
• January 25: Women's final (8.30am UK time)
• January 26: Men's final (8.30am UK time)

What is the prize money?

As with the other majors, the prize money is identical for the men’s and women’s dingles tournaments. The prize money is broken down as follows:

• Champion: A$3,500,000 (£1,763,000)
• Runner-up: A$1,900,000 (£957,000)
• Semi-finalists: A$1,100,000 (£554,000)
• Quarter-finalists: A$665,000 (£334,900)
• Fourth round: A$420,000 (£211,000)
• Third round: A$290,000 (£146,000)
• Second round: A$200,000 (£100,700)
• First round: A$132,000 (£67,000)

Who are the seeded players?

The men’s seeds are as follows:

1. Jannik Sinner (ITA)
2. Alexander Zverev (GER)
3. Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)
4. Taylor Fritz (USA)
5. Daniil Medvedev
6. Casper Ruud (NOR)
7. Djokovic (SRB)
8. Alex de Minaur (AUS)
9. Andrey Rublev
10. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)

The women’s seed are as follows:

1. Aryna Sabalenka
2. Iga Swiatek (POL)
3. Coco Gauff (USA)
4. Jasmine Paolini (ITA)
5. Qinwen Zheng (CHN)
6. Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
7. Jessica Pegula (USA)
8. Emma Navarro (USA)
9. Daria Kasatkina
10. Danielle Collins (USA)

Who are the favourites to win?

Novak Djokovic is the favourite to take the men’s title with odds of 10/11, followed by Daniil Medvedev (11/2), Rafael Nadal (13/1), Nick Kyrgios (14/1) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (16/1).

In the women’s tournament Iga Swiatek is the player to beat with odds of 9/4, followed by Aryna Sabalenka (10/1), Caroline Garcia (12/1) and Cori Gauff (14/1).

Who have the British players been drawn against in the first round?

The first round draw has now been made, so here’s who the Brits will be taking on:

Women’s singles:

Sonay Kartal (Gbr) vs Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (Esp)

Leolia Jeanjean (Fra) vs Jodie Burrage (Gbr)

Rebecca Marino (Can) vs Katie Boulter (Gbr) (22)

Ekaterina Alexandrova (26) vs Emma Raducanu (Gbr)

Men’s singles:

Matteo Berrettini (Ita) vs Cameron Norrie (Gbr)

Jack Draper (Gbr) (15) vs Mariano Navone (Arg)

Jacob Fearnley (Gbr) vs Nick Kyrgios (Aus)

How do I watch the Australian Open in the UK?

The Australian Open will be available to watch live in the UK on Eurosport, the Eurosport App and discovery+.

The discovery+ channel is available from £6.99 per month from their website.

Eurosport is available as an add-on to Sky, BT and Amazon Prime subscribers.

Who are the favourites to win the Australian Open?

Jannik Sinner is the 6/5 favourite for the men’s title, followed by Carlos Alcaraz (7/2), Novak Djokovic (11/2). Alexander Zverev (9/1) and Daniil Medvedev (13/1).

In the women’s tournament the bookes see it as Aryna Sabalenka’s to lose, with short odds of just 12/5, followed by Iga Swiatek (9/2), Coco Gauff (9/2), Elena Rybakina (15/2) and Qinwen Zheng (12/1).