The first round action at the Australian Open 2025 will kick-start on Sunday, January 12 as Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios will be among those to take to court for their openers. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Melbourne.
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Alexander Zverev v Lucas Pouille Preview
Head-to-Head: While they have never faced off at the highest level, they were up against each other in the 2019 Hopman Cup and Zverev had won that in three, fighting sets.
Alexander Zverev is currently ranked second in the world after his strong showing in 2024 which saw him win a total of 69 matches across all tournaments. To give you a context, Zverev started playing tennis at the lowest level in 2011 and his next best record is 62 matches in a single season.
Those 69 wins included two Masters 1000 titles – at Paris and Rome – and he will now look to gun for that one thing missing from his trophy cabinet, a Grand Slam.
Zverev started off the season with two wins from two matches before withdrawing from the tournament because of a bicep strain. He hasn’t played since and it now needs to be seen how he goes about his business here.
Up against him is an opponent who was once ranked 10th in the world but has now fallen to outside of the top 100. Pouille made it through as a direct qualifier here but only just and having not played a single main draw match so far this season would just make it so much more difficult for the Frechman.
This should be a bit of a cakewalk for Zverev is he’s fully fit.
Zverev v Pouille prediction: Zverev to win in straight sets: 3/5
Felix Auger-Aliassime v Jan-Lennard Struff Preview
Head-to-Head: There have been four previous matches between them and both Auger-Aliassime and Struff have won two apiece. Auger-Aliassime’s victories came indoors in Rotterdam and Paris while their only outdoor hardcourt match came in 2020 in the ATP Cup where Struff won.
Felix Auger-Aliassime is coming off a reasonable start to the season which saw him end 1-1 in the United Cup and at the time of writing, also had him enter his Adelaide International semifinal.
A shock win over Taylor Fritz in that first competition of the year would have given him supreme amount of confidence and that was then on display in Adelaide.
What the Canadian player will need to overcome is his slowly dwindling form after he bagged four titles in 2022, one in 2023 and nothing last season.
On the other hand, Jan-Lennard Struff is coming off his maiden ATP title last year but that came in Munich on clay. Incidentally he defeated Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals there.
This year, the German featured in Auckland for his season-opener where he defeated B Yu in the first round before losing to Gael Monfils in the second.
We can expect Struff to put up some resistance but that might not be enough to stop the now-resurgent Auger-Aliassime.
Auger-Aliassime v Struff prediction: Auger-Aliassime to win: 4/7
Nick Kyrgios v Jacob Fearnley Preview
Head-to-Head: Kyrgios and Fearney have never faced off in a competitive match before this.
Nick Kyrgios returns to Grand Slam tennis for the first time since the 2022 US Open and has already fired a few barbs. While his issues with the Jannik Sinner doping issue has been ongoing, he also said in a press conference that tennis has become a bit mundane – indicating he’s back to spice it up.
While Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz fans might disagree with the mundaneness bit, there is no taking away from the interest that Kyrgios brings to the sport. Like he did when he took to court for doubles action at the Brisbane International, partnering with Novak Djokovic.
They lost in the second round and Kyrgios himself lasted just one match in the singles, there was enough evidence there to back him in his opener here.
What makes it better for the Aussie is his first round opponent has never been ranked better than 86th in the world – his current ranking – and he is in his maiden Grand Slam as a direct entrant.
Truth be told it could be the start of an exciting journey for the British player who had begun the 2024 season ranked outside of the top 600. Can he rise up to the occasion though?
Kyrgios v Fearnley prediction: Kyrgios to win: 8/11
Sebastian Baez v Arthur Cazaux Preview
Head-to-Head: There have been no previous meetings between these two players.
Sebastian Baez is ranked 28th in the world with a best world ranking of 18th and has six ATP titles under his belt, all of which he won over the last three seasons.
Surely he should start off a heavy favourite against someone who has never been a top-60 player and is currently languishing at 83rd in the world? Even more so because that opponent, Arthur Cazaux, lost in the first round of the Brisbane International and in the second in Adelaide earlier this week.
The bookmakers have it all in the reverse though with Baez starting out a huge underdog at 2/1 even as Cazaux is 5/11 to win this. Why? Because of Baez’s issues on this surface – five of his six titles have come on clay.
Queering the plot is that Baez’s best at the Australian Open is a third round appearance last year but that’s also his best at any Grand Slam!
So while it’s easy to back Cazaux here, it might not be as straightforward as that for him either.
Baez v Cazaux prediction: Set Handicap Baez +2.5: 2/5
Other Australian Open 2025 Predictions of the Day
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