The remaining second round matches at the WTA Brisbane International 2025 will be played on Wednesday, January 1. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Brisbane.
- Get all the remaining tennis betting tips and predictions of the day here
- Also read what’s a Tennis Betting Accumulator here
Victoria Azarenka v Maya Joint Preview
Head-to-Head: World number 20 Azarenka has never played against the 116th-ranked Joint before this.
A winner at this competition in 2016 and a semifinalist the last time Azarenka had played here in 2024, she will kick-start her new season following a first round bye here.
Azarenka is coming off a decent previous season but one in which she again did not win a single title. The last time she had pocketed a tournament victory was way back in 2020.
The good news for Azarenka is that she has fought on and even at the age of 35, starts off the season ranked in the top 20.
She will face a player almost half her age, Australia’s Maya Joint who is coming off an easy win over Maddison Inglis in her opener.
Joint, who was a runner-up in a WTA125 competition last year and won her first ever singles match in a Grand Slam competition at the US Open, routed Inglis 6-3, 6-4 to enter round two.
And while she starts off a second favourite here, she could take the attack to her opponent.
Azarenka v Joint prediction: Joint to win a set – Yes: 8/11
Daria Kasatkina v Peyton Stearns Preview
Head-to-Head: Between 2023 and 2024, these two players have featured in five matches and Kasatkina holds a narrow 3-2 edge over Stearns. In hardcourt competitions, played in Cincinnati, Australian Open and US Open, the Russian is 2-1 ahead.
Kasatkina managed to keep her place in the top 10 of the WTA Rankings and that was thanks to the two titles she won in 2024 – in Ningbo and Eastbourne.
Add that to her finals appearance at the Adelaide International, Abu Dhabi Open, Charleston Open and in Seoul, Kasatkina had an unforgettable 2024 season and she would love for it to continue in the same vein.
She had a first round bye here and now takes on a tricky opponent in the form of Peyton Stearns who eased past Veronika Kudermetova in her opener.
Stearns won 6-2, 6-3 to seal her place in the second round having come into the encounter at evens to win the encounter. The American clinched her first ever WTA title last year in Rabat and broke into the top 50 as well, making this a potentially cracker of an encounter.
Kasatkina v Stearns prediction: Over 21.5 games in the match: 5/6
Emma Navarro v Kimberly Birrell Preview
Head-to-Head: Navarro defeated Birrell in their only previous meeting that came in Hong Kong in 2024.
Ranked eighth in the world, Navarro will now look to build on her brilliant form in 2024 as she features in her first ever match of the season. She had a first round bye and will now take on Kimberly Birrell who defeated Priscilla Hon in a tough one.
Navarro was showing great signs of form all season, having begun the season with a title win in Hobart. She capped the year with a semifinal appearance at the US Open having gotten the better of Cori Gauff and Paula Badosa in the process.
Local player Birrell was tested to the hilt in her opener by Hon, needing to come back from losing the first set to win in three. She was on court for two hours and 10 minutes in the encounter.
While that makes her battle-hardened, Birrell needs to do a lot to overcome a player of the quality of Navarro and we expect this to head in just one direction as a result.
Navarro v Birrell prediction: Navarro to win in straight sets: 1/2
Liudmilla Samsonova v Polina Kudermetova Preview
Head-to-Head: These two have faced off once before in a match that came in 2023 in Hertogenbosch where Samsonova had eased to a straight-set win over Kudermetova.
Polina won her opener on a day when her sister and the better-pedigreed player in the form of Veronika – at least as far as the rankings are concerned – went out of the competition.
Despite starting out a 11/10 underdog in that match, Kudermetova was able to put Xinyu Wang out of the competition with a facile, 6-1, 6-3 victory.
Polina had earlier made it to the tournament as a qualifier having started off the season ranked 107th in the world.
She now faces fellow Russian Samsonova who ended the previous season ranked 27th but was once 12th in the world. While Samsonova won a title at Hertogenbosch and made the fourth round at the US Open in 2024, she ended the season on the back of four successive defeats.
Can she quell the Kudermetova challenge?
Samsonova v Kudermetova prediction: Samsonova to win in three sets: 3/1
Other Brisbane International 2025 Predictions of the Day
- Dayana Yastremska v Anastasia Potapova: Potapova to win: 1/2
- Yue Yuan v Marta Kostyuk: Kostyuk to win: 2/5
- Magdalena Frech v Sizan Lamens: Frech to win: 11/20
- Linda Noskova v Anca Todoni: Noskova to win: 2/5
