Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter and Beatriz Haddad Maia will be among those in action at the 2025 Australian Open on Tuesday, January 14. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Melbourne.
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Ekaterina Alexandrova v Emma Raducanu Preview
Head-to-Head: Alexandrova and Raducanu have never faced off in a competitive match before this.
Ekaterina Alexandrova has had a poor start to the season with the once-15th-ranked player falling to two defeats in three matches across tournaments in Brisbane and Adelaide.
To be fair to her, Alexandrova faced Ons Jabeur and Emma Navarro in those losses, not easy matches by any stretch.
Still, Alexandrova doesn’t have the best record at Australian Open with just three entries to the third round from her eight appearances. And she is up against a player who has been a tad up and down but can come up with the goods at times.
Emma Raducanu hasn’t been able to make an appearance this season because of her fitness concerns, in line with what has been her problem since she won her maiden – and only – Grand Slam title in 2021.
Bookmakers might be backing Raducanu to win here, odds of 4/6 on offer, but that’s rather strange for a player who has played here three times and never gotten past the second round.
At 11/10, Alexandrova looks to be a tempting option for a win.
Alexandrova v Raducanu prediction: Alexandrova to win: 11/10
Beatriz Haddad Maia v Julia Riera Preview
Head-to-Head: No matches have been played between Haddad Maia and Riera before this.
Beatriz Haddad Maia will be thanking her stars she has been paired to face a player ranked outside the top 140 because the manner she has begun the season it looks like she has found no rhythm.
Representing Brazil in the United Cup, Haddad Maia lost to Xinyu Gao and Laura Siegemund in her two matches there – shocking given they were 27/5 and 2/1 odds to clinch those wins.
And then in the Adelaide International, playing Madison Keys, Haddad Maia was blown away 6-2, 6-1 in her opener, making it three losses in a row.
She will now take on Julia Riera in her opener here, a player who has come through the qualifiers to enter the main draw.
Making it slightly easier for Haddad Maia is the fact that Riera is a clay-court specialist with all of her seven ITF titles having come on that surface.
This should give Haddad Maia some leeway and a chance to get into some rhythm.
Haddad Maia v Riera prediction: Over 18.5 games in the match: 8/15
Katie Boulter v Rebecca Marino Preview
Head-to-Head: There have been two previous meetings between these two players and Boulter has won them both – at Nottingham and Canadian Open.
Katie Boulter’s just two spots away from her career-best ranking of 23rd in the world and a run through to the second week of this competition could help her achieve that. Probably break into the top 20.
The British number one starts off with a reasonably straightforward encounter with Rebecca Marino, a player whom she has not only defeated before but also someone ranked 98th in the world at the moment.
While Boulter featured in the United Cup to kick-start the season and helped Great Britain make the quarterfinals with wins over Nadia Podoroska and Olivia Gadecki before losing to Iga Swiatek, Marino is coming off a second round exit at Auckland.
Boulter looks to be in good enough rhythm to take this match in straight sets and move into the second.
Boulter v Marino prediction: Boulter to win in straight sets: 8/13
Shuai Zhang v McCartney Kessler Preview
Head-to-Head: Their only previous meeting came at the 2024 China Open and Zhang had won that in two tie-breakers.
Shuai Zhang has been trying to make a comeback to the WTA Tour but is still outside the top 200 of the rankings.
In the first eight tournaments she played in 2024, Shuai lost in the first round at each one of them. It was only in the ninth, at the China Open did she register her first win and that came against McCartney Kessler, her opponent here.
She would go on win four rounds in the tournament before Paula Badosa ended her run. And immediately after that, Zhang lost five of the next matches.
In her only match she’s played this year, Zhang was beaten by Cori Gauff at the United Cup but there were signs of some positive intent in that encounter.
Unfortunately for Zhang, she will be up against a player who has just won her second WTA title and hit a career-best ranking of 47th in the world.
Kessler lost in the second round at the Brisbane International but went on to beat players like Dayana Yastremska, Elina Avanesyan and Elise Mertens to grab the title.
We could see another straight-set win for Kessler here.
Zhang v Kessler prediction: Kessler to win in straight sets: 1/1
Other Australian Open 2025 Predictions of the Day
- Arantxa Rus v Olga Danilovic: Danilovic to win: 1/2
