The first round action at the ATP Auckland Open 2025 continues on Tuesday, January 7 with Jan-Lennard Struff and Gael Monfils among those taking to court. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Auckland.
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Jan-Lennard Struff v Y Bu Preview
Head-to-Head: This will be their first meeting.
Jan-Lennard Struff will take to court for the first time this season after having not played at either the United Cup or the two ATP competitions in Hong Kong and Brisbane last week.
The German is coming off a modest previous season in which his ranking fell 17 spots to 42 by the end of the year. A lot of that was to do with his performances in hardcourt competitions.
A semifinalist here in 2019, Struff won just four matches in outdoor hardcourt tournaments, leaving him with a lot to think about. He now takes on an opponent who broke into the top 70 last year thanks to his performances on that surface.
Yunchaokete Bu was to take on Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in his opener here but his opponent withdrew from the match, leaving him to take on Struff instead.
The Chinese player did not have a great start to his season last week.
Featuring at the Hong Kong Open, he started off a 3/4 favourite against Nuno Borges and looked to be on his way to a straightforward win when he grabbed the first set.
Unfortunately for him, Borges clawed back and took the second set before clinching the match in the third set in tie-breaker.
Things could get interesting here given Struff might start off a favourite on paper but he will be featuring in his first match since the Davis Cup last year.
Struff v Bu prediction: Bu to win: 13/10
Gael Monfils v Pedro Martinez Preview
Head-to-Head: This will be the third meeting between these two players with Martinez having won at the 2021 Wimbledon and Monfils having responded with a victory at the 2022 Canadian Open.
Monfils started out his 2025 campaign with a hard-fought win over the American qualifier Nishesh Basavareddy in the first round of the Brisbane International. However, in the second round, the 38-year-old Frenchman was drawn to take on Novak Djokovic.
And we all know about Monfils’ record against Djokovic – it was 19-0 going into that encounter – and that was always going to play a huge part. That’s exactly what happened as Monfils lost to Djokovic for the 20th time, losing in straight sets.
He now has a chance to go the distance in this tournament but for starters he will hope to get past a player who has made his mark on clay.
The 27-year-old Pedro Martinez is coming off a second round appearance at the Hong Kong Open last week but that had followed a rather underwhelming last season on this surface when he won just two matches in the entire year.
That makes Monfils a huge favourite to register another opening round win.
Monfils v Martinez prediction: Monfils to win: 3/10
Alexandre Muller v Jakub Mensik Preview
Head-to-Head: Their only previous meeting came at the qualifiers of the Vienna Open last year and Mensik had won that encounter easily.
Not too many would have expected Muller to have the kind of start he has had in 2025. Starting out the year ranked 81st in the world, Muller chose to participate in the Hong Kong Open last week.
And he went on to fight his way through to his maiden ATP title!
Muller went into four of his five matches as a rank outside to win – against Marc-Andrea Huesler, Miomir Kecmanovic, Arthur Fils and in the final against Kei Nishikori where he was a whopping 5/2 underdog.
He won them all and sealed his place in the history of ATP title winners.
And not surprisingly he starts off 5/2 again in his opener against Jakub Mensik. This time around, aside from the fact that Mensik himself is a solid top-50 player who does well in hardcourt competitions, what could work against Muller is the quick turnaround between the tournaments – he finished his final on Sunday afternoon in Hong Kong and will be playing this match in a couple of day’s time in Auckland.
Mensik was a quarterfinalist at the Brisbane International last week and will hold the aces here.
Muller v Mensik prediction: Mensik to win: 3/10
Mariano Navone v Adrian Mannarino Preview
Head-to-Head: Navone and Mannarino have never faced off before this.
Mariano Navone will hope he can turn around his fortunes following a fighting, but losing start to the season.
The Argentinian player, who was once ranked 29th in the world, fell to a 7-5, 7-6 (7) loss at the hands of Nicolas Jarry. Not that Navone was a favourite going into the encounter but with some luck could have turned the screws on his opponent.
Navone will now face Adrian Mannarino, an opponent who has aged like fine wine but is currently struggling to make things work. The Frenchman had become ranked 22nd in the world at the end of the 2023 season as a 35-year-old but found the going rather tough in 2024.
He won just 18 of the 52 matches he featured in at every level and as a result of that, Mannarino was forced to play in both, a Challenger and the qualifiers of an ATP event to start this year.
Mannarino lost in the opener of the former and fell in the qualifiers of this event and has made it to the main draw only as a lucky loser. Backing Navone to take Mannarino out here.
Navone v Mannarino prediction: Navone to win in three sets: 3/1
Other Auckland Open 2025 Predictions of the Day
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