Where will Aryna Sabalenka, Amanda Anisimova, Elena Rybakina, Madison Keys start 2026 season?
The 2025 WTA Brisbane International will feature seven top-10 players with world No 1 and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka the headline act.
Sabalenka kicked off her season with a title at her first event as she defeated surprise finalist Polina Kudermetova 4–6, 6–3, 6–2 in the final and that set her up for a run to the final of the Australian Open where she was beaten by Madison Keys.
And there could be a rematch of that Grand Slam final in Brisbane as world No 7 Keys has also signed up for the WTA 500 event along with Amanda Anisimova (No 4), Elena Rybakina (No 5), Jessica Pegula (No 6), Mirra Andreeva (No 9) and Ekaterina Alexandrova (No 10).
Most of those players were brilliant in 2025 as Keys won the Australian Open, Anisimova finished runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open, and also won two WTA 1000 titles, Rybakina won the season-ending WTA Finals, beating Sabalenka in the final and teenager Andreeva also won two WTA 1000 titles.
World No 2 Iga Swiatek, No 3 Coco Gauff and No 7 Jasmine Paolini are the only top-10 players in the WTA Rankings who are missing from the tournament with all three signing up for the United Cup.
Besides reigning Australian Open champion Keys, four-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka and 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina, there will be three other major winners in the draw as 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko, 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin and 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova have also signed up.
WTA News
Aryna Sabalenka’s net worth estimated after her earnings soared in stellar 2025 season
In terms of points being defended by the big-name players, Sabalenka will drop 500 points in Brisbane following her title run, but she is assured of keeping the No 1 spot in the rankings ahead of the Australian Open as she has a 2,400-plus lead over Swiatek.
Anisimova played in Auckland during the corresponding period this year, but lost in the first round so she doesn’t have any points to defend, while Keys also played in New Zealand and will drop 54 points.
Rybakina will drop 150 points from her United Cup run in 2025, Andreeva reached the semi-final in Brisbane so will drop 195 points while Pegula didn’t play in the first week fo the season at the start of the current campaign.
Brisbane International Entry List
Aryna Sabalenka
Amanda Anisimova
Elena Rybakina
Jessica Pegula
Madison Keys
Mirra Andreeva
Ekaterina Alexandrova
Clara Tauson
Linda Noskova
Liudmila Samsonova
Karolina Muchova
Diana Shnaider
Leylah Fernandez
Jelena Ostapenko
Paula Badosa
Marta Kostyuk
Dayana Yastremska
Sofia Kenin
Veronika Kudermetova
Mccartney Kessler
Anna Kalinskaya
Marketa Vondrousova
Daria Kasatkina
Ann Li
Jaqueline Cristian
Karolina Pliskova
Marie Bouzkova
Sorana Cirstea
Ashlyn Krueger
Tatjana Maria
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Emiliana Arango
Anastasia Potapova
Cristina Bucsa
Magdalena Frech
Elsa Jacquemot
Tereza Valentova
Hailey Baptiste
Emerson Jones
