The two-time finalist will first have to get past rising Serbian star Olga Danilovic, while Gauff will open against Kamilla Rakhimova.
Gauff and Williams are in the same half of the draw as top seed Aryna Sabalenka, who won back-to-back Australian Open titles in 2023 and 2024 and finished runner-up to Madison Keys in 2025. The world No. 1 made an unbeaten start to the year by defending her Brisbane International title and will play her first round against French wild card Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah. A potentially tricky second round also looms for Sabalenka, who could play a rematch of her 2025 quarterfinal against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The bottom half of the draw features a stacked third quarter with three Americans competing for one spot in the semifinals. Defending champion Keys, seeded ninth, is the projected fourth-round opponent of No. 6 seed Jessica Pegula, while the winner would be projected to play No. 4 seed Amanda Anisimova. Anisimova is playing her first Australian Open since reaching back-to-back major finals at Wimbledon and the US Open; she will open against Switzerland’s Simona Wiltert with 2020 champion Sofia Kenin as a possible third-round opponent.
No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek rounds out the draw and while she opens against a qualifier, her road could get very tough in the fourth round with two-time champion Naomi Osaka in her section. Osaka last lifted a major trophy at the 2021 Australian Open, but ended the 2025 Grand Slam season with a run to the US Open semifinals. She will play her first round against Antonia Ruzic.
