The Australian Open 2025 action for the first round will be played between Sunday, January 12 and Tuesday, January 15 with Taylor Fritz and Grigor Dimitrov taking to court for their openers. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Melbourne.
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Taylor Fritz v Jenson Brooksby Preview
Head-to-Head: They have played each other once before this and Brooksby had won that 2021 US Open encounter in four sets.
Taylor Fritz had made a quiet start to the season when he fell to Felix Auger-Aliassime in his very first match of the year in the United Cup.
Fortunately for the world number four, he was able to turn things around with four successive victories after that, which in turn also helped USA regain the United Cup title.
The American eased past Borna Coric, Zhizhen Zhang, Tomas Machac and Hubert Hurkacz in those remaining matches, retaining his world number four ranking as a result.
With seven titles under his belt across the past three seasons, Fritz will now hope to do something similar in a Grand Slam and to be able to march into the latter stages, he would hope to get started here with a confident victory.
His opening opponent is a fellow American Jenson Brooksby who had touched a career-high ranking of 33rd in the 2021-22 season but has since then fallen off the radar.
Brooksby hasn’t played any competitive tennis since the 2023 edition of the Australian Open – partly due to injuries and also because of a doping-violation-related suspension.
Fritz v Brooksby prediction: Fritz to win in straight sets: 4/9
Grigor Dimitrov v Fabio Fognini Preview
Head-to-Head: These two players have faced off seven times with Dimitrov having won five of those times. Their first six matches came in the 2013-17 period while they last played in Paris in 2022 where Dimitrov had won in straight sets.
Grigor Dimitrov looked to have made a solid start to the season when he won three matches in a row at the Brisbane International to reach the semifinals.
In that last match against Jiri Lehecka, Dimitrov was down a set before opting to retire from the match with a groin injury. Groin injuries are not the quickest to heal but Dimitrov’s decision to call it quits might have been more precautionary than it actually being a serious issue.
Either way, Dimitrov might be needed to nurse the issue and therein could lie Fabio Fognini’s chance to make life more difficult for the world number.
Fognini’s challenge is that his own record in hardcourt competitions hasn’t been much to write home about. In 2023, the former world number nine won nothing on this surface while last year there was just one main draw win for him on it.
Dimitrov should still win this one if he does take to court but Fognini could steal a set.
Dimitrov v Fognini prediction: Over 3.5 sets in the match: 13/8
Nuno Borges v Alexandre Muller Preview
Head-to-Head: Both of their previous two meetings have come on the Challenger circuit with Borges and Muller having won one apiece. Borges had won on hardcourt surface though, in their most recent meeting last year.
Nuno Borges has had a strong start to 2025 as he continues to improve on his hardcourt results as his career’s progressing.
Having made the fourth round at the Australian Open last year, Borges will now enter this tournament with the confidence he can do something similar after the kind of performances he’s had this season.
The Portuguese player is now closing in on his career-best ranking of 30th in the world, following his semifinal appearance at the Auckland Open this week following three hard-fought wins. He lost the first set of each of those matches, to Luciano Darderi, Mariano Navone and Jakub Mensik before Zizou Bergs got the better of him.
He had earlier also made the second round of the Hong Kong Open.
Alexandre Muller has gone one better.
Having never won an ATP title before the start of 2025, Muller shocked all of his five opponents in Hong Kong – they were all favourites before their match – to grab his maiden title there. This included wins over Arthur Fils, Jaume Munar and Kei Nishikori.
The big question for someone like Muller, who has hit a career-high ranking of 56th in the world after that performance, is if he can sustain this kind of form. We think he won’t be making life any easy for Borges.
Borges v Muller prediction: Borges to win AND Over 3.5 sets in the match: 6/4
Yunchaokete Bu v Hady Habib Preview
Head-to-Head: Bu beat Habib in their only previous meeting held on the Challenger circuit last year.
Y Bu has an excellent chance of winning his first ever match in Grand Slam tennis when he takes to court against Lebanese qualifier and 219th-ranked Hady Habib.
In making it to the main draw of this year’s Australian Open Habib became the first ever from his country to do so in a Grand Slam. He overcame Patrick Kypson, Chun-Hsin Tseng and Clement Chidekh to qualify for this tournament.
Bu should fancy his chances with a caveat that the world number 65 hasn’t begun too well in 2025.
He was upset by Nuno Borges in the very first round in Hong Kong before Jan-Lennard Struff knocked him out of the Auckland Open last week.
Habib might prove to be an easier opponent here but it’s not like Bu has had a lot of Grand Slam experience and we could end up seeing a thrilling encounter here.
Bu v Habib prediction: Over 3.5 sets in the match: 4/7
Other Australian Open 2025 Predictions of the Day
- TBA
