Day 1 of the men’s singles tournament at the Australian Open was spoiled by heavy rain, but 12 matches were completed by the day’s end. Two Top 10 players made their debuts, while no seeds lost on opening day. LWOT recaps some of the players’ overall performances and reflects on the best matches–as 14 days of the tournament remain ahead.

Australian Open Men’s Day 1 Recap

Who Looked Good

Only four of the 11 completed men’s matches ended in straight sets (one ended in retirement), and arguably the easiest win of the day goes to Alexander Zverev, He won 6-4 6-4 6-4 over former World No. 10 Lucas Pouille, firing 18 aces and not dropping serve once. It’s worth noting that at last year’s Australian Open, the German had to fight through some long opening matches, including winning a second-round slugfest against Lukas Klein. If he can keep his early matches quick, Zverev will have a better chance to be fresh later in the second week.

World No. 14 Ugo Humbert was also impressive, because of his clutchness at the end of each of the three sets that he won. While he fired 28 winners to a subpar 43 unforced errors, it was encouraging to see the Frenchman step up his game with solid serving and limited errors. In what turned out to be a 7-6 (5) 7-5 6-4 win over Matteo Gigante, he broke serve in a 20-point plus game late in the second set to get the big momentum shift.

Arthur Fils, coming off a great 2024 season, also reminded fans of how strong he can be on hard courts. After a slow start, he overcame Otto Virtanen 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4 6-4. He didn’t look that great until midway through the third set, but it’s always better for players to improve towards the end of each match, especially this early in a Grand Slam.

Finally, Hady Habib of Lebanon was one of the big stars of the day, making history as the first Lebanese player to win a Grand Slam match. He won 7-6(4) 6-4 7-6(6) over Yunchaokete Bu. The crowd was on Habib’s side, creating a thrilling Sunday evening atmosphere on Court 13. Habib has a big forehand and strong serve that I think will improve throughout 2025.

Hady Habib does it! Two days ago Lebanon had never had a Grand Slam main draw participant, now they have a match winner!

And look at what it means!

He defeats Bu 7-6(4) 6-4 7-6(6)@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/oFoJbKIQoE

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 12, 2025

Who Looked Bad

No player performed exceptionally poorly on Day 1, with a limited number of surprises. It was a disappointing day for the Australian men (and women), with Omar Jasika, Adam Walton, and Li Tu all crashing out of the tournament. In addition to another Australian loss in the women’s bracket, the home players went 0-4 on Day 1. I felt like Walton could have played a bit more aggressively when leading two sets to love in his match against Quentin Halys, as he became passive and eventually fell 7-5 in the fifth.

Casper Ruud played decently at times in his opening match, but it was a bit concerning to see him already fight through a five-setter on Day 1. He defeated Jaume Munar 6-3 1-6 7-5 2-6 6-1 in over three hours, and his groundstrokes suffered greatly during a poor second and fourth set. He’ll have to clean up his groundstrokes if he wants to go deep in the Australian Open, and his draw isn’t that easy going forward.

Match of the Day

Walton and Halys’ five-set tussle, as mentioned above, could be chosen as one of the matches of the day. But Kei Nishikori’s comeback victory against Thiago Monteiro is my pick. Nishikori, who has reached four Australian Open quarterfinals throughout his long career, saved two match points in a 4-6 6-7 (4) 7-5 6-2 6-3 win. Nishikori was previously 0/11 on break points until late in the third set, with Monteiro using his powerful lefty forehand to his advantage. The crowd was on Nishikori’s side, and once the veteran got the break in the third set, I could tell already that it would be a massive uphill battle for Monteiro.

Nishikori hit 67 winners to 42 unforced errors and won 81% of points when making a first serve. Monteiro ultimately hit too many unforced errors in the fourth and fifth set, as Nishikori started to thrive in the longer rallies late in the match.

Nishikori now holds a flawless 29-8 record in five-set matches. He’s in elite company, with Novak Djokovic and Bjorn Borg having similar strong fifth-set stats.

Due to Sunday’s rain, over 20 matches are on the schedule for Monday in the men’s draw. Be sure to check out LWOT’s predictions and follow LWOT for all the previews, recaps, and features during the tournament.

Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports