Australian Open watch guide: Aryna Sabalenka starts title defense, Australians hope for upsets

Posted by Admin January 11, 2025 Tennis

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The Australian Open is here, with the top half of the women’s draw and the bottom half of the men’s draw opening proceedings in Melbourne.

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka headlines the first day, with Americans and Australians alike looking to cause upsets and men’s second seed Alexander Zverev looking to take his first step towards a debut major win.

Here’s what to watch on the show courts and around the grounds.

Start time: 7:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. PT January 11
TV: ESPN, Tennis Channel
Streaming: ESPN+

Anca Todoni (Q) vs. Zheng Qinwen (5)

A very tricky task for the Romanian qualifier Todoni, who faces last year’s women singles finalist Zheng. Zheng used her defeat by Sabalenka as a springboard, reaching world No. 5 and winning Olympic gold in women’s singles. Her serve is one of the most formidable on the WTA Tour and her heavy forehand is a serious weapon. Todoni, 20, beat Olga Danilovic on her Grand Slam debut at last year’s Wimbledon, but Zheng is one of the toughest draws she could have faced, especially in Melbourne.

Casper Ruud (6) vs. Jaume Munar

Ruud finds himself in a funny position at the start of 2025. He’s a three-time Grand Slam finalist, entering his prime years firmly ensconced in the top 10 of the ATP Tour, but he thinks his tennis is going to limit him in the era of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. His first-round opponent, Spain’s Munar, is a hustler who gives nothing up, but the Norwegian should have too much for him on a hard court.

Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Sloane Stephens

Sabalenka loves Australia. She’s won 27 matches in 28, two Australian Open titles in a row and another title in Brisbane to open the 2025 season. In the second half of 2024, Sabalenka started introducing sharp, finessed angles and drop shots into her repertoire, using them to devastating effect on her run to the 2024 U.S. Open title. She is the player to beat in Melbourne, and Stephens, herself a Grand Slam champion, will be the underdog.

Lucas Pouille (WC) vs. Alexander Zverev (2)

Pouille made his best run at a Grand Slam in Melbourne, losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the 2019 semifinal. The Frenchman, who has also been in the top 10, reached the third round at Wimbledon 2024 after a series of post-injury wildcards, and will be a dangerous proposition for Zverev in the final match of the first day on Rod Laver Arena.

Alexander Zverev is seeking his first Grand Slam title in Australia. (Darrian Traynor / Getty Images)

The German, who reached the French Open final in 2024, is second seed but probably fourth-favorite for the title in Melbourne, after Sinner, Alcaraz and Djokovic. He will hoping to ease into proceedings.

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Margaret Court Arena

Start time: 7:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. PT January 11
TV: ESPN, Tennis Channel
Streaming: ESPN+

Otto Virtanen vs. Arthur Fils (20)

A big-hitting Fin who loves saving match points, Virtanen broke the top 100 in October 2024 and this is his fourth-consecutive Grand Slam main draw. Fils, who could make a charge in Melbourne after a big year in 2024, will be favorite, but Virtanen is a dangerous player and the Frenchman will not be able to afford any lapses.

Diane Parry vs. Donna Vekic (18)

Parry will be hoping to banish memories of Melbourne from last year, after an agonizing loss to the breakout star of the 2024 Australian Open, Mirra Andreeva. Parry led 5-1 in the final set before Andreeva took it 7-6, but if she plays like she did in the first and third sets of that match, Vekic will have to be careful. The Croatian reached the Wimbledon semifinals and the Olympic final in 2024, and like Fils has the potential to make a deep run from outside the top 10.

Donna Vekic will be looking to build on her success in 2024. (Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)

Jiri Lehecka (24) vs. Li Tu (WC)

Tu enamoured himself with the tennis world at the U.S. Open, when he took a set off then-world No. 2 Alcaraz on Arthur Ashe Arena with a fearless performance. He’ll have to replicate that in front of his home crowd against the dangerous Lehecka, who won the Brisbane 250-level tournament in the run-up to Melbourne.

Anna Blinkova vs. Daria Saville (WC)

Blinkova produced one of the moments of the 2024 Australian Open, when she won a 42-point match tiebreak against Elena Rybakina in the third round. Blinkova will face a different kind of challenge from the partisan crowd on Margaret Court Arena, as Saville attempts to reach the second round at her home major for the second time.

John Cain Arena

Start time: 7:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. PT January 11
TV: ESPN, Tennis Channel
Streaming: ESPN+

Marie Bouzkova vs. Mirra Andreeva (14)

If the 2024 Australian Open had a story, it was Andreeva’s teenage tennis miracles. Now established in the top 20, and, she says, trying to get herself to be calmer and more secure on court, Andreeva has the tools to reach the late stages of any tournament. Bouzkova has had a few good results against top-15 players of late, beating Sabalenka in Washington and Ostapenko in Brisbane.

Kei Nishikori vs. Thiago Monteiro (Q)

Nishikori has said that 2024 was just about getting his body used to tennis again. In 2025, he wants to start producing results. He should fancy his chances against Monteiro, who specializes in clay-court tennis, but the king of the five-set match will be wanting to avoid going long early.

Paula Badosa (11) vs. Wang Xinyu

Badosa is one of many players who will be happy just to be here at all. In early 2024, she feared she would never play tennis again, but after strong runs at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open she’s back in the upper echelons of the WTA Tour. Wang, an established top-40 player who upset U.S. Open finalist Jessica Pegula twice last year, is a tough first-round out.

Ugo Humbert (14) vs. Matteo Gigante (Q)

Humbert, who loves a fast hard court but prefers when they are indoors, is a bit of an enigma at Grand Slam level. He’s never gone beyond a fourth round despite his top level being among the best in the field, and his best result in Melbourne is the third round. He faces a fellow left-hander in Italy’s Gigante, which might make this a trickier assignment by depriving Humbert of the angular advantage he enjoys against right-handers.

Mirra Andreeva announced herself to the world at the 2024 Australian Open. (Robert Prange / Getty Images)

Kia Arena

Start time: 7:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. PT January 11
TV: ESPN, Tennis Channel
Streaming: ESPN+

Yuliia Starodubtseva vs. Leylah Fernandez (30)

Since reaching the 2021 U.S. Open final, Fernandez has established herself as a top-30 player without making another impactful run at a major outside of New York (she reached the quarterfinals in 2023.) Starodubtseva has gone beyond the first round at a major just once, but had her best run at a WTA 1000 event in 2024, reaching the quarterfinals in Beijing.

Gauthier Onclin (Q) vs. Reilly Opelka

When Opelka retired from the Brisbane final against Lehecka, it raised fears that the big-serving American had suffered another bit of injury bad luck. Opelka is in the draw for Melbourne, though, and looking to build on his win over Djokovic. His serve, which mixes fearsome speed with heavier spin than even his fellow big servers can manage, will be a baptism of fire for Onclin, making his Grand Slam debut after an impressive run through qualifying. He likes playing Americans at the moment, beating Aleksandar Kovacevic and Mackenzie McDonald to reach the main draw. The world No. 236, Onclin overcame rankings gaps of 128 and 106 places to do it.

Damir Dzumhur vs. Aleksandar Vukic

In 2018, Dzumhur made it inside the top 25. In 2024, he broke back into the top 100 after five years of spiralling form, achieving direct acceptance for the Australian Open main draw in the process. He’ll have the crowd against him against world No. 67 Vukic, but there’s every chance of an upset.

Nao Hibino (Q) vs. Marta Kostyuk (17)

World No. 18 Kostyuk enters 2025 with points to defend to keep herself inside the top 20, including in Melbourne. She reached the quarterfinals last year as the world No. 37, losing to Coco Gauff in three sets, the first two of which were some of the tightest of the tournament. 2024 was the first year since 2021 that Hibino qualified for the main draw of all four majors, and she started the 2025 season by coming through qualifying here.

Reilly Opelka’s run to the Brisbane final was a reminder that he is more than a big server. (William West / AFP via Getty Images)

1573 Arena

Start time: 7:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. PT January 11
TV: ESPN, Tennis Channel
Streaming: ESPN+

Bernarda Pera vs. Tatjana Maria

One of few Americans across the men’s and women’s singles to avoid a compatriot in the draw, Pera will look to Gauff’s performance against Maria at this year’s U.S. Open for inspiration. Maria — whose use of slice off both groundstroke wings can befuddle opponents — had Gauff in knots for the first eight games of their encounter before the American cut loose and won the next eight in a row to win the match.

Clara Tauson vs Linda Noskova (29)

A sleeper hit tie in the first round between two of the most exciting players outside the top 25. Noskova will have fond memories of her first Grand Slam appearance in Melbourne last year, when she beat Iga Swiatek in three sets on the way to the quarterfinals, while Tauson is coming off the back of a title in Auckland. She won the final when Naomi Osaka retired up a set, but got there in style.

Sumit Nagal vs Tomas Machac (26)

What to make of Machac? Blessed with precocious talent and a love for showmanship, the Czech has in recent weeks looked too preoccupied with the latter over adding the solidity which would see him rise further in the ATP rankings. A cramp-induced rage quit from a set and 5-2 up against Taylor Fritz in the United Cup only adds to the complexity. He should have too much for Nagal, who reached the second round of a major for the first time at last year’s tournament.