Australian Open: TNT Sports' Tim Henman, Laura Robson and you went head-to-head with your predictions for the winners Down Under
By Leon Imber
Published 26/01/2026 at 18:33 GMT
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As we enter the Australian Open quarter-finals, let's take a look at the pre-tournament predictions by TNT Sports pundits Tim Henman and Laura Robson and the audience. It is not your regular prediction game, though, with an incentivised points system giving them reason to root for the underdog. Can anyone stop the top seeds' seemingly inevitable match through to the final in either draw?
Sinner, Musetti and Anisimova stunners in best shots from Day 9 of Australian Open
Video credit: TNT Sports
The Australian Open enters its critical stages with the quarter-finals beginning on Tuesday, and some mouth-watering clashes on the way, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Top seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz have come through unscathed, while two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner is also into the last eight - albeit having survived an almighty scare in his third-round victory over Eliot Spizzirri.
The women's title will not be retained after Madison Keys was knocked out by compatriot, friend and podcast co-host Jessica Pegula on Monday and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek will hope the trophy heads in her direction - a feat which would complete her career Grand Slam haul.
Ahead of the Australian Open, TNT Sports gave you the opportunity to compete with experts Laura Robson and Tim Henman in a battle of predictions.
You made your picks for who would reach the quarter-final stage, as did Robson and Henman, and the scores are now in after Monday's round of last-16 matches...
How did the vote work?
- The exciting tennis star Andy Murray is 'non-stop' raving about
- Why Alcaraz, Sinner and Sabalenka have been asked to remove fitness trackers - 'Rules are rules'
- Imperious Swiatek emulates remarkable Serena feat after breezing into quarters
Henman, Robson, and you - the audience - voted on eight separate sections of the men's and women's draws. Each section contained 16 players, with only one able to progress from the first round to the quarter-finals.
However, to make the process more interesting, the points-based system incentivised rooting for an underdog, with the scoring working in the following format.
- Seeded 1-8: 1 point
- Seeded 9-16: 2 points
- Seeded 17-24: 3 points
- Seeded 25-32: 4 points
- Unseeded: 5 points
There's also a four-point bonus up for grabs for correctly predicting the overall champion.
Who are the quarter-finalists?
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Swiatek says it 'doesn't make sense' to look at head-to-head record with Rybakina
Video credit: TNT Sports
Both sides of both draws are stacked with top seeds, with an intriguing week set to play out.
The top six seeds in Melbourne have all safely made it through to the final eight: Alcaraz, Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, Lorenzo Musetti and Alex de Minaur.
Challenging them for the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup will be No. 8 seed Ben Shelton and the surprise package Learner Tien.
Meanwhile, the women's side is equally brimming with elite and experienced competitors.
Sabalenka, Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Elena Rybakina and Pegula all survived as the top six seeds - with Elina Svitolina and Iva Jovic hoping to spring unlikely title pushes.
A recap of the predictions
Here is who Robson, Henman and the audience backed to reach the final eight - as well as the predictions for overall winners.
| Men's draw | Robson | Henman | Audience |
| Section 1 | Alcaraz (1) | Alcaraz (1) | Alcaraz (1) |
| Section 2 | De Minaur (6) | Bublik (10) | De Minaur (6) |
| Section 3 | Rublev (13) | Zverev (3) | Zverev (3) |
| Section 4 | Auger-Aliassime (7) | Medvedev (11) | Medvedev (11) |
| Section 5 | Musetti (5) | Fritz (9) | Fritz (9) |
| Section 6 | Djokovic (4) | Mensik (16) | Djokovic (4) |
| Section 7 | Ruud (12) | Ruud (12) | Shelton (8) |
| Section 8 | Sinner (2) | Sinner (2) | Sinner (2) |
| Overall winner | Sinner | Sinner | Sinner |
| Robson | Henman | Audience | |
| Section 1 | Sabalenka (1) | Sabalenka (1) | Sabalenka (1) |
| Section 2 | Kostyuk (20) | Kostyuk (20) | Kostyuk (20) |
| Section 3 | Muchova (19) | Muchova (19) | Gauff (3) |
| Section 4 | Svitolina (12) | Andreeva (8) | Andreeva (8) |
| Section 5 | Badosa (25) | Pegula (6) | Pegula (6) |
| Section 6 | Anisimova (4) | Anisimova (4) | Anisimova (4) |
| Section 7 | Bencic (10) | Rybakina (5) | Rybakina (5) |
| Section 8 | Osaka (16) | Swiatek (2) | Swiatek (2) |
| Overall winner | Sabalenka | Anisimova | Sabalenka |
So who is winning the predictions battle?
And here comes the verdict! With only one set of points left to collect, the current leader in the Henman vs Robson predictions league is.... the audience.
| Robson | Henman | Audience | |
| Points from women's draw | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Points from men's draw | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| Total | 9 | 8 | 12 |
As you can see, a remarkable show of consistency from the audience has resulted in a big lead, with the only points remaining are those for guessing the correct overall winners.
Tien and Jovic were the big points winners as the No. 25 and No. 29 seeds respectively, as potential four-point hauls. But nobody backed them.
In fact, the only player seeded outside the top eight to have been correctly predicted to reach the quarter-finals was Robson backing Svitolina. Brava, Laura.
Where can the points potentially still be won?
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Robson predicts 'upset' for young star who Murray is 'non-stop banging on' about
Video credit: TNT Sports
Following a strong set of predictions, the audience is in a healthy lead - and Robson's race has unfortunately been run, owing to the fact both the TNT Sports expert has made the exact same predictions as the audience for the eventual winner - meaning if Sabalenka and Sinner lift the title, the four-point gains would be redundant.
However, Henman has said from the very start that he feels Anisimova will claim her maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne, and the American has shown positive signs en route to potentially doing that.
With both the audience and Henman electing Sinner as their Australian Open champion, the predictions battle could come down to the women's final.
Should Henman be correct in his projection, he would level the audience's tally of 12 points - so the stakes are high!
Anisimova faces Pegula in the quarter-final and the victor of which faces either Swiatek or Rybakina in the semis.
How to watch Australian Open on TNT Sports and discovery+
All the action from Melbourne is available live and on-demand via TNT Sports and its streaming platform, discovery+.
TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.
The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports and entertainment in one destination.
You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.
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