Australian Open: Five Challenger players to watch | ATP tour | Tennis

Australian Open

Five Challenger players to watch at the Australian Open

Sakamoto and Jodar meet in the teenage clash in the opening round
January 17, 2026

From an opening-round #NextGenATP showdown to former college standouts and other emerging talents, ATPtour.com highlights five ATP Challenger players to watch at the Australian Open.

Rei Sakamoto
The 19-year-old won the boys’ singles crown in Melbourne in 2024 and became the first Japanese player to win the junior title at the Australian Open. Since then, the 193cm teenager has made a big impression on the ATP Challenger circuit, including victory on home soil last November at the Yokohama Challenger, his final tournament of 2025.

Sakamoto, the first Japanese teenager to win three Challenger titles, stormed through the qualifying draw in Melbourne to make his first appearance in the major main draw. He started with an emphatic 6–1, 6–2 victory against former world number 21 Daniel Evans and built on that momentum, not dropping a set to achieve a milestone Down Under. Sakamoto will face 19-year-old Rafael Jodar in the first round.

Raphael Jodar
It will be an entertaining opening round between two emerging talents, Sakamoto and Jodar. Not only is the Spaniard participating in his first major main draw, but last week his first attempt to qualify for the Slam was also completed. Jodar’s Challenger results have been an important stepping stone to where he is today.

The second half of the 2025 season saw Jodar win three Challenger titles in as many months en route to qualifying for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF. On New Year’s Eve, the 19-year-old announced he was turning pro, waiving his remaining eligibility at the University of Virginia, where he spent two seasons. He started this season with a run to the final of the Canberra Challenger, losing to 2025 Jeddah runner-up Alexander Blockx. Jodar is ranked No. 150 in his career in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Liam Draxl
The Canadian was one of two players (Emilio Nava) to reach a season-leading 44 match wins at Challenger level in 2025. Draxl, 24, won on Winnipeg’s hard courts in July and reached six more finals to cap off his best career year. Now the former University of Kentucky standout turns his attention to his first major appearance in the main event.

Draxl was almost out of qualifying when he fell behind 3-6, 3-5 against Mackenzie McDonald in the final round. Two points shy of defeat at 3-5 in the second set, Draxl hammered a backhand pass to cap off a tense exchange that saw the American get the chance to put away an overhead. Draxl stormed back to win 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-2, dramatically securing his place in the main draw. He will start against Damir Dzumhur.

Rafael Collignon
The 23-year-old will look to relive his memories of last year’s US Open, where he reached the third round of a Slam for the first time after beating 12th seed Casper Ruud in a five-set, three-hour and 30-minute battle. The Belgian faces a tough test against fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti in his opener in Melbourne.

At a career-high number 72 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Collignon reached his second tour-level quarter-final in Brisbane earlier this month. He is participating in the main draw of the Australian Open for the first time. Collignon, whose father is a brain surgeon, won two Challenger trophies in 2025 (Pau, Monza).

Patrick Kypson
A seven-time Challenger champion, Kypson was tied for the most titles (4) at that level at six points in 2025. The 26-year-old earned a spot in the main draw by winning the USTA’s Australian Open Wild Card Challenge last November, helped in large part by his triumphs at the Sioux Falls and Helsinki Challengers.

Kypson will be competing in Melbourne for the second time (2024) and is looking for his first win in the major main draw. He starts against the Argentinian Francisco Comesana.

Slam debut approaching 🔜

Arthur Gea, Rafael Jodar, Sakamoto, @AustraliaOpen main attraction!#ATPCchallenger | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/VHsR4k90H9

— ATP Challenger (@ATPChallenger) January 15, 2026