Australian Open LIVE 2026: Aussie Gibson triumphs; Walton faces Alcaraz hurdle; Sabalenka, Zverev in action

If you’re out at Melbourne Park, you might spot police carrying long-arm semi-automatic rifles.

The new measures are part of bolstered security after the Bondi Beach terror attack in December.

At Melbourne Park, the spotlight will also be on unruly or disruptive behaviour at the opening tennis major of 2026 after several notable incidents last year, including scenes when 10-time champion Novak Djokovic called out a drunken heckler in an on-court interview.

Russian and Belarusian flags are still banned due to the war in Ukraine and fans are only permitted to display flags of competing players.

Click here to read all you need to know about the rules and regulations regarding security, protests and fan behaviour.

In case you missed it, the Australian Open last night had its inaugural opening ceremony, with tennis royalty Roger Federer at the centre.

For the most part, the choices felt safe, yet significant: Rod Laver tossing the coin; beloved, unproblematic Australians Pat Rafter, Ashleigh Barty and Lleyton Hewitt, four-time winner Agassi and a tried and tested music act in Crowded House.

But everyone knew all these names were just garnishes: The main course was Roger Federer.

Tennis’ unbeaten king of hearts was this year’s ace in the hole.

His last time in Melbourne as a competitor was 2020, and six years’ absence has only made Australia’s hearts grow fonder.

During the afternoon people filed in with his profile and initials on their shirts, or else took photos in front of the AO signs on the concourse holding “I heart Roger” cardboard signs.

Read Alexander Darling’s full story here.

Australian Open organisers have laid the foundations for a huge jump in overall attendance after breaking the crowd record during qualifying this past week.

Officials have dubbed qualifying and the lead-in events Opening Week, and they routinely drew crowds of about 30,000 fans each day. On Saturday, 2,408 people came to Kids Day, which included the great Roger Federer leading the opening ceremony.

Last year’s lead-in week had a record cumulative attendance of 116,528, but this year’s events have smashed that record, with 217,999 tennis lovers heading to Melbourne Park already despite the only live tennis being qualifying matches, training matches and training sessions.

The huge crowds for Opening Week should mean they set a big record for overall tournament attendance over the next two weeks judging from the expected weather, pre-ticket sales and past crowd attendances.

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