The first day of the matched at the 2025 Australian Open will be played on Sunday, January 12 with Mirra Andreeva, Marta Kostyuk and Magda Linette among those taking to court for their openers. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Melbourne.
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Mirra Andreeva v Marie Bouzkova Preview
Head-to-Head: This will be the first meeting between Andreeva and Bouzkova.
Just 17 years of age, Mirra Andreeva is already knocking on the doors of a top 10 ranking in the world and a run deep into the second week of this competition could get here there.
Andreeva, who had made the fourth round here last year on her Australian Open debut, enters this tournament on the back of a solid showing in Brisbane.
Sure, she was bundled out of the competition at the semifinal stage but that was at the hands of the world number one Aryna Sabalenka. Till that time, Andreeva had already dismissed Anna Blinkova, Linda Noskova and Ons Jabeur in straight sets.
That being said, Andreeva faces a rather tough opening round opponent in the form of Marie Bouzkova. Till not so long ago, Bouzkova was ranked 24th in the world and in that very tournament that Andreeva reached the semifinal, she was a quarterfinalist.
Who beat her there? Sabalenka again.
Bouzkova was then forced to feature in the qualifiers in Adelaide where she made the main draw, only to lose to Liudmilla Samsonova in the opener.
Andreeva’s form is just too irresistible right now but Bouzkova could have her moment under the sun if things really go well for her.
Andreeva v Bouzkova prediction: Andreeva to win in straight sets: 4/5
Donna Vekic v Diane Parry Preview
Head-to-Head: There has been one previous meeting between these two players which came in 2022 in Portoroz and Parry had won that one in three.
It’s not been the kind of start to the season that Donna Vekic would have wanted going into the season’s opening Grand Slam.
A quarterfinalist here in 2023, Vekic would have been gunning for more of the same this season but three defeats from as many matches in 2025 don’t make for a good reading.
The world number 19 could be excused for going down to Cori Gauff in the United Cup but defeats to Leylah Fernandez in her other match at that tournament and an opening loss in Adelaide at the hands of Yulia Putintseva would hurt.
And now while she takes on a player ranked 66th in the world, Diane Parry comes into this one knowing she has beaten Vekic once before.
Sure, Vekic wasn’t in the great space, physically, at that point in her career and Parry hasn’t featured in even one match this season so far but it could still prove to be a gritty battle here.
Expecting a three-setter in the offing.
Vekic v Parry prediction: Three sets in the match: 6/5
Magda Linette v Moyuka Uchijima Preview
Head-to-Head: There have been three previous meetings between these two players and Linette has won them all. This includes a victory in the China Open last year when they faced off in the second round.
Magda Linette was inching up the WTA Rankings following a solid 2022 season but since then her form has gone a tad awry. Once ranked 19th in the world, Linette has fallen to 38th and now enters this competition with a 1-2 win-loss record for the year.
She started with an opening defeat to McCartney Kessler in Brisbane and while Linette then got the better of Varvara Gracheva in her Hobart opener, Maya Joint was there to defeat her in the second. That Linette lost 6-1, 6-1 speaks volumes about her badly her stock has fallen in recent times.
The question is if Moyuka Uchijima has the arsenal to take advantage of this loss of form for Linette.
Because the 66th-ranked player has herself seen some struggle in recent times, most notably in 2025 itself when she has lost in the first round in Brisbane and in the qualifiers at Adelaide.
Backing Linette for a win here but not before things go a little haywire for a while.
Linette v Uchijima prediction: Over 19.5 games in the match: 4/7
Marta Kostyuk v Nao Hibino Preview
Head-to-Head: Three previous meetings between these players including one in the qualifiers of the 2021 Italian Open have seen Kostyuk win two and lose one.
On paper, this seems to be a one-sided match in view as the world number 18 takes on a player ranked 153rd in the world.
The only problem here for that 18th-ranked player, Marta Kostyuk, is that she has played two matches this season and lost both. They were also matches she should have won given the difference in the rankings, falling in straight sets to Yue Yuan in Brisbane and then losing to Ashlyn Krueger in Adelaide.
Otherwise, however, Kostyuk has a good record in hardcourt competitions with her only WTA title having come in Austin and having also reached the quarterfinal at the Australian Open last year.
Her opponent here, Nao Hibino has been around for ages, having first played competitive tennis in 2012. Now aged 30, Hibino has seen the highest of reaching 56th in the world but is currently 143rd on the rankings.
As a result of that, she was forced to play in the qualifiers where she defeated Harriet Dart in the final round to make it through. Earlier she also made the second round of the Auckland Open as a qualifier which gives her some momentum coming into this one.
Kostyuk to win this but we might see a third set coming up.
Kostyuk v Hibino prediction: Kostyuk to win in three sets: 7/2
Other Australian Open 2025 Predictions of the Day
- Cristina Bucsa v Chloe Paquet: Paquet to win: 11/5
