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The 2022 Australian Open is here and there promises to be plenty of intrigue at the first Grand Slam tournament of the season.
The storylines were building even before the event started, with world number one Novak Djokovic sent home to Serbia after it was discovered that he failed to disclose information about his travel in the days before entering Australia. Djokovic reportedly had Covid-19 in December and is currently unvaccinated.
The departure of Djokovic — the three-time defending Australian Open champ — opens up the men’s field to a new winner for the first time since 2018, when Roger Federer held the trophy.
On the women’s side, defending champ Naomi Osaka makes her return to the court after taking a mental health break following the U.S. Open last fall but she’ll be challenged by hometown favorite Ashleigh Barty.
Want to watch the Australian Open live? Here’s where to find the 2022 tournament on TV and online.
When Is the Australian Open? 2022 Dates
The 2022 Australian Open runs from Monday, January 17 through Sunday, January 30, taking place on the hard courts at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia.
How to Watch the 2022 Australian Open on TV
If you want to watch the Australian Open on TV, you can find the tennis tournament on ESPN and ESPN2. Both channels will have coverage of early round play, with the championship games airing live on ESPN.
If you have a traditional cable package (like this one from Verizon Fios), you can watch the Australian Open on TV on ESPN and ESPN2.
If you’ve cut the cord or prefer to stream the Australian Open online, there are a couple of ways to do that below.
How to Watch the 2022 Australian Open Online
If you want to watch the Australian Open online, you’ll be able to find the tennis matches spread out on ESPN, ESPN2 and The Tennis Channel. Here’s where to find those channels online and how to stream the tournament free.
Stream the Australian Open on Sling TV
The best way to watch the Australian Open online is through Sling TV. The streaming service offers both ESPN and ESPN2 through its “Sling Orange” tier, which costs just $35 a month. Your subscription lets you stream the Australian Open matches online from your computer, tablet, phone or connected TV (via the Sling TV app).
Want to stream the Australian Open for free? Get a 3-day free trial from Sling TV here to test out the service for free before signing up.
Stream the Australian Open on fuboTV
Another way to watch the 2022 Australian Open online is through fuboTV. A subscription to fuboTV gets you more than 100 channels, including ESPN and ESPN2, to stream the Australian Open online. You also get access to The Tennis Channel, FS1, ESPN News and other major sports networks, for post-match analysis and coverage.
fuboTV is currently offering a 7-day free trial, which you can use to watch the Australian Open online free. Your price goes up to $64.99 a month after that if you don’t cancel the free trial.
Stream the Australian Open on ESPN+
The 2022 Australian Open will also be available to stream on ESPN+ (or ESPN Plus), which is ESPN’s online streaming service. A subscription to ESPN+ lets you live stream the Australian Open on your phone, laptop, tablet or connected TV. You’ll also be able to access the full ESPN+ library of on-demand content, including their critically-acclaimed “30 for 30” documentary series.
ESPN+ costs $7.99 a month here, though your best bet is to get the Disney+ Bundle which gets you ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+ for just $13.99 a month total.
How to Stream the 2022 Australian Open Online Free
Looking for a way to live stream the Australian Open online free? You’ll want to use the Sling TV free trial here or the fuboTV free trial here. Combine both trials to get 10 days of free streaming to the 2022 Australian Open tournament.
Unlike Sling and fuboTV, ESPN+ does not offer a free trial, so if you want to watch the Australian Open on ESPN free, you’ll want to need to use the Sling or fubo free streaming links.
Australian Open 2022: Top Seeds, Contenders, Preview
Novak Djokovic was the Australian Open number-one men’s seed, but with his departure, number-two seed Daniil Medvedev and number-three seed Alexander Zverev are the favorites to take home the title.
Both are also in contention to take over the world number-one ranking and either player can clinch the top spot if they win the tournament.
Other men’s contenders for the Australian Open title include Rafael Nadal (seeded sixth this year), Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev.
On the women’s side, Naomi Osaka returns to Melbourne as the defending Australian Open champ but she is now ranked number-thirteen after her extended break from tennis last year. The top seed is hometown fave Ashleigh Barty, who has won the French Open and Wimbledon but has yet to progress past the semifinals in Australia.
Other contenders for the Australian Open 2022 women’s title include Aryna Sabalenka, Garbiñe Muguruza and Karolina Pliskova.
