By Roger Childs
19-year-old Learner Tien has caused one of the tournament’s biggest upsets to date, beating endurance machine Daniil Medvedev in a five-set classic that lasted just a tick under as many hours. –Will Faulkner and Dane Heverin, Fox Sports, 16 January 2025
Grand slam tennis can be hot, literally!
The Melbourne Park tournament is the first of the four 2025 tennis grand slams. The majority of players are from Europe and North America, and are delighted to be away from the northern winter. However, it can be very hot in Victoria in January and on-court temperatures can rise into the high 30s Celsius. 20 years ago, one reading on an outer court was in the low 50s!
All the big guns, both men and women are playing, and last year’s champions Belarussian Aryna Sabalenka and Italian super-star Jannik Sinner are again the favourites. The early rounds take some time to complete, as there are 128 competitors in each singles draw. First round matches can be tricky, as up-and-comers often play their best tennis against the top seeds who can sometimes underestimate their opponents. On Friday of the first week the players were still working their way through the second and third rounds.
So who will be challenging last year’s champions for the singles titles in 2025?
Men’s Singles – plenty of talent
Second seed Sacha Zverev from Germany, who had a great season in 2024, and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz as number three will be challenging hard.
Also American Taylor Fritz who surged up the ranking last year and was a finalist in the prestigious Torino ATP Finals in November, will be highly competitive. Local hopes rest with the talented Alex De Minaur who is ranked eighth.
Women’s Singles – plenty of challengers
The number two seed is Polish player Iga Świątek and, although she has four grand slam titles to her name, she has never won in Melbourne. Elena Rybakina from Kazhakstan who was the beaten finalist in 2023 will also be competitive. Then there is the winner of the 2023 Auckland ASB Classic American Coco Gauff, who is ranked third this year.
Another notable player is fourth seed Jasmine Paolini. The smiley Italian is only 5 feet four inches tall but she can pack a punch. Last year she was the surprising finalist in the consecutive grand slams at Wimbledon and Roland Garros.
Quality play from the outset
One thing is guaranteed over the next ten days — there will be plenty of excellent tennis and entertainment in front of knowledgeable and enthusiastic crowds. The quality of the singles and doubles fields is not in doubt, and for every player winning a title in the first grand slam of the year is always a great start to the tennis season.
As usual there have already been some high-level casualties. Sixth seed Daniil Medvedev struggled in the first round against wildcard Thai Kasidit Samrej who has a world ranking of 413! The match went to five sets before the Russian cruised to victory. Medvedev aroused the ire of the crowd when on being passed by Samrej, he thrashed his racquet into the net and destroyed a sensitive camera. Not surprisingly, the spectators were delighted when the Russian was drummed out of the tournament in second round, beaten by 121 ranked America Learner Tien who won 6-3 7-6 6-7 1-6 7-6.
Another high level casualty was sixth seed Norwegian, Casper Ruud, who was beaten by Czech Jakob Mensik in four sets. And Andrei Rublev the ninth seed, was beaten in the first round 6-7 3-6 6-7 by Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca. On the women’s side, last year’s beaten finalist Qinwen Zhang was ousted by Laura Siegemund 7-6 6-3.
In the Melbourne mid-summer heat and encouraged by enthusiastic spectators, the World’s first 2025 grand slam will finish Sunday week.