Naomi Osaka and Marketa Vondrousova will be among those in first round action at the 2025 Australian Open on Monday, January 13 . Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Melbourne.
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Naomi Osaka v Caroline Garcia Preview
Head-to-Head: There have been four previous meetings between these two players and both have won two. They have also faced off at the Australian Open on two previous occasions with Osaka winning in 2021 and Garcia extracting revenge last year. Osaka then won in the 2024 Qatar Open before Garcia made it 2-2 in Miami last year.
All eyes will be on Naomi Osaka who has begun to look the Osaka of earlier and was on the verge of capturing her first ever title since 2021 when she took to court at Auckland.
Osaka won four matches in a row to get to the final, dropping just one set on her way only to have to retire from her match against Clara Tauson. It’s that injury which will be in the eyes of the fans when she takes to court.
And facing her will be Caroline Garcia, who in the 2022-23 phase looked to have gotten a second lease of tennis life. As a result of her form over that period, Garcia had won four WTA titles and romped to the number four position.
2024 was anything but that good for the Frenchwoman though.
She won just 17 matches to go with her 17 losses and saw her ranking plummet to outside the top 50. And she opted not to feature in any of the competitions in the lead-up to the 2025 Australian Open leaving her to come into this opening major with the risk of rustiness.
Osaka starts favourite (1/4 to win this) but with fitness concerns around here, it won’t be such a bad idea to keep away from betting on this encounter.
Osaka v Garcia prediction: Under 22.5 games in the match: 8/13
Marketa Vondrousova v Jana Fett Preview
Head-to-Head: Their only previous meeting came in Luxembourg in 2021 and Vondrousova had won that indoor hardcourt encounter in straight sets.
Marketa Vondrousova is a former Wimbledon winner but her fitness issues have really refused to let up. In that list of issues is her most recent injury that forced her to retire from her second round match at the Adelaide International against Diana Shnaider.
Having defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in her opener of that tournament, Vondrousova was up a set against Diana Shnaider before having to pull the plug because of what seemed to be a back injury.
Her fitness will be a bit of a question-mark but the good news for the Czech player is that her opponent is a player ranked outside the top 100 and one having never done better than her 97th rank on the WTA charts.
Jana Fett tried to take part in the Canberra competition but was ousted in the very first round there and proceeded to participate in the qualifiers of this competition.
The world number 134 shocked Alexandra Eala in her opener there before knocking out two other opponents in straight sets to seal her place in the first round here.
It will be the first time in six years that she would be featuring in the main draw here and while her opponent has an injury cloud, Fett won’t have it easy by any stretch.
Vondrousova v Fett prediction: Under 20.5 games in the match: 10/21
Elise Mertens v Viktorija Golubic Preview
Head-to-Head: Mertens beat Golubic in their only previous meeting that came on the clay courts of the Istanbul Open in 2021.
Elise Mertens was expected to take part in the Auckland Open to kick-start her season but was forced to make a last minute withdrawal from the tournament.
Instead, she returned to competitive tennis a week later in Hobart and dished out a solid performance that saw her win four matches in a row to make the final. The former world number 12 was a favourite going into the final against McCartney Kessler too but was edged away in a three-setter.
Still, the Belgian will take a lot of heart from her performance as she takes to court in a Grand Slam where she has made her best showing – a semifinal in 2018. More recently, Mertens had also made the fourth round in the 2022 edition.
She takes on Viktorija Golubic who was forced to come through the qualifiers to make the main draw here after ending the previous season ranked 90th in the world.
The best part about her qualification was the fact that Golubic did not drop a single set and lost 16 games across three matches to get to the main draw.
Mertens could prove to be a difficult proposition though.
Mertens v Golubic prediction: Mertens to win: 4/7
Greet Minnen v Destanee Aiava Preview
Head-to-Head: The only previous time they have faced off was in the qualifiers of the Canadian Open last year. Minnen had won in three sets.
Greet Minnen’s career-best ranking of 59th had come at the end of the 2023 season in which she had a win-loss record of 57-20 across all the circuits.
Unfortunately for Minnen she wasn’t able to make it a second year of solid tennis in a row and in 2024 she lost more than she won.
Where that leaves her is with a world ranking of 94th in the world but that there were signs of return to her old sparkle in the two tournaments she played this season.
It started with a second round appearance at the Auckland Open and a qualification for the Hobart International following Minnen made the second round yet again.
She takes on Aussie qualifier Aiava Destanee in her opener, a player ranked 195th in the world. That does brighten her chances of making the second round here for just second time but it must be quickly added that Destanee has beaten two higher-ranked players in the qualifiers already.
Destanee took down Ana Bogdan in the opener before edging past Eva Lys in the third round there.
We could still see Minnen win this but not before getting to a third set or a tie-breaker in one of the two.
Minnen v Aiava prediction: Minnen to win: 4/6
Other Australian Open 2025 Predictions of the Day
- Caroline Dolehide v Sara Bejlek: Three sets in the match: 6/5
