2026 Brisbane International Presented by Evie Preview

Last Updated on January 2, 2026 5:37 pm by Erwin Noguera

The 2026 ATP season gets underway in Australia with the Brisbane International, an ATP 250 tournament that nevertheless features top-level players looking to shift out of vacation mode and begin preparing for the first Grand Slam of the year.

The tournament will take place from January 4 to 11 at the Queensland Tennis Centre in Tennyson, Brisbane. It is played on a hard court surface, and this will be its 15th edition.

The defending champion is Czech player Jiří Lehečka, while Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov are the only players to have won the tournament twice. Lleyton Hewitt and Nick Kyrgios are the local champions who have lifted the trophy at this event.

At Gambyl Exchange, you can explore all Tennis predictions, the final bets for this Tournament, and the odds for each match.

2026 Brisbane International Presented by Evie Info

2026 Brisbane International Top Contenders

The year begins, and we’ll place at the top of the main favorites list the highest seed among those competing: Daniil Medvedev. He had a very poor 2025 by his usual standards, which is why expectations are high for him to regain his level in 2026.

He played a few exhibition matches in December, but his last official appearance was on October 31, when he lost in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters 1000.In Grand Slams, he suffered three first-round exits and one second-round loss, and throughout the year he reached two finals, winning only one—the ATP 250 in Almaty—where he defeated Corentin Moutet in three sets.

It’s worth noting that of the 40 ATP finals Medvedev has played, 34 have been on hard courts, and 19 of his 21 career titles have come on that surface.

Second on the list is Czech player Jiří Lehečka, the defending champion of the tournament, who will be looking to win the title in back-to-back years, as Andy Murray did in 2012 and 2013. He hasn’t played since November 20 and is currently on a four-match losing streak, with defeats across an ATP 250, ATP 500, Masters 1000, and the Davis Cup.

Still, 2025 was a strong year for Lehečka. In addition to claiming his second ATP title, he reached three finals, losing at the Queen’s Club Championships to Carlos Alcaraz and at the European Open to Félix Auger-Aliassime, both in three sets. His victory in Brisbane came against Reilly Opelka after leading 4–1, when the American retired.

Both of Jiří’s titles have come on hard courts in Australia, with the previous one being the 2024 Adelaide International. Five of his six career finals have been on this surface, and last year he was also the runner-up in Brisbane in doubles.

Finally, let’s talk about Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The Spaniard arrives as the tournament’s No. 2 seed, ranked 14th in the world.He had an excellent 2025 in terms of finals reached, but was unable to secure the first title of his career.

He was a finalist in one ATP 250 and three ATP 500 events, all on hard courts. The most recent came in October at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, where he lost to João Fonseca in straight sets. He posted a 63% win rate in 2025, winning 43 of 68 matches, and recorded the same percentage on hard courts, where he went 29–17.

2026 Brisbane International Top Contenders

João Fonseca is the new young sensation on the ATP Tour. At just 19 years old, he already captured his first two ATP titles in 2025, winning the Argentina Open in February and the Swiss Indoors in October. He also claimed two Challenger titles and was part of Team World, which defeated Team Europe at the Laver Cup, beating Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in the third match of the opening day to secure his team’s only point that day. Four of his five titles last season came on hard courts.

Tommy Paul was unable to match his 2024 campaign. Two years ago, he reached four singles finals, winning three of them, and also earned a bronze medal in doubles at the Olympic Games. However, last season he failed to win a title and has not played an official match since August 30, when he lost in the third round of the US Open.

Finally, we’ll include one of the local players on this list: Nick Kyrgios. The Australian, champion in 2018, is practically retired at this point but received a wild card into the tournament.He played just five official matches last year, posting a 1–4 record, with his lone win coming against Mackenzie McDonald in the first round of the Miami Masters 1000. He also made headlines recently after defeating Aryna Sabalenka 6–3, 6–3 in the Battle of the Sexes exhibition.

2025 Brisbane International Top Contenders