The opening round matches at the Australian Open 2025 will continue on Tuesday, January 14 as Alex de Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti take to court for their openers. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Melbourne.
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Alex de Minaur v Botic van de Zandsculp Preview
Head-to-Head: Their only previous meeting came at the 2022 Davis Cup in which de Minaur came back from being a set down to defeat van de Zandschulp.
For the last three editions of the Australian Open in a row, Alex de Minaur has made it to the fourth round here.
As a world number eight, he would like to take that step further, having made it that far in all the Grand Slams bar his home one.
That’s a story for later though as he looks to build on the solid start he’s got to the season, beating Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Billy Harris in the United Cup. Australia were knocked out after that but he looked to have done his job.
De Minaur takes on Botic van de Zandschulp in his opener, an opponent who has fallen steeply in the rankings after being once ranked 22nd in the world. At 84th at the moment, van de Zandschulp needs to start winning more often than he did last year at the highest level.
The trouble for van de Zandschulp is that he’s more of a performer on clay and his troubles in hardcourt competitions can be seen from the start he’s got the season when he lost in the Auckland Open’s qualifying round one.
de Minaur v van de Zandsculp prediction: de Minaur to win in straight sets: 4/5
Lorenzo Musetti v Matteo Arnaldi Preview
Head-to-Head: There have been three previous meetings between these two players, all of which have come on clay – including one in Bastad and another in Rome – and Musetti has won them all.
Ranked 15th in the world, Lorenzo Musetti has a good chance to jump up the rankings even further given his performance at this tournament last year was anything but spectacular.
Musetti was knocked out in the second and he will start earning points once he makes the third round.
The trouble for Musetti is his experiences at the Australian Open have never been memorable – that second round appearance last year was his best ever.
Of course, Musetti is only 22 years old and his performances on hardcourts should get better with experience but he is also coming of a second round loss at the Hong Kong Open where he was downed by the 11/5 underdog Jaume Munar.
He will be up against fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi who is a bit of a peer for Musetti, and has hit the top 30 in the ATP Rankings in his career already.
And much like Musetti, Arnaldi is also coming off a loss in the second round of his only tournament for the season – Brisbane International.
Arnaldi’s record in hardcourt competitions is slightly better though and that will give him a good chance here. We could even see an upset.
Musetti v Arnaldi prediction: Arnaldi to win: 27/20
David Goffin v Benjamin Bonzi Preview
Head-to-Head: In all of the three meetings between these players, Goffin has gotten the better of Bonzi, which includes two matches at the Montpellier Open.
David Goffin finished the previous season with a quarterfinal appearance at the Shanghai Masters, having made the semifinals in Winston-Salem and a third round showing at the US Open to go with it as well.
Unfortunately for Goffin, he hasn’t had a great start to this season as he suffered back to back first round losses to Aussie opponents in Brisbane and Adelaide.
In both those matches, against Aleksandar Vukic and Rinky Hijikata, Goffin was the favourite going into the encounter but fell in two easy sets. And that lack of fight will worry the fans.
Compare that to Benjamin Bonzi’s performance who was forced to come through to the main draw in both these tournaments and still made it as far as the second round and quarterfinals respectively.
A win over Alejandro Tabilo was the highlight for Bonzi.
Not surprisingly, Bonzi starts off a favourite at 1/2 and we will be backing him to grab this one.
Goffin v Bonzi prediction: Goffin to win: 1/2
Juncheng Shang v Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Preview
Head-to-Head: Fokina has beaten Shang in both their previous meetings. Both those matches came in 2024, in Miami and Madrid and Fokina did not drop a set.
While Juncheng Shang might not have beaten Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the two aforementioned matches, he had a season to remember overall.
The Chinese player shocked a few with his maiden title win in Chengdu and had a few other such performances to go with it – like the semifinal at the Hong Kong Open and Atlanta Open and the third round at the Australian Open and US Open.
It would be a tough act to follow a season like that but Juncheng has made a good start.
Featuring in Hong Kong again, he came through to the semifinal before being forced to retire against Kei Nishikori because of illness. He has had time to recover though and it would be interesting to see if he can turn things around against his nemesis Fokina.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s start to 2025 has been disappointing, what with an opening loss in Hong Kong to Jaume Munar before falling in straight sets against Sebastian Korda in Adelaide.
Having had a poor 2024 too, Fokina will need a sterling performance to turn things around and his superior experience could help. We still back Shang to win this but the safer option is to go with the sets market.
Shang v Davidovich Fokina prediction: Over 3.5 sets in the match: 1/2
Other Australian Open 2025 Predictions of the Day
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