The second round action at the Australian Open 2025 kick-starts on Wednesday, January 15 as Novak Djokovic takes on Jaime Faria and Tomas Machac will be up against Reilly Opelka. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Melbourne.
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Novak Djokovic v Jaime Faria Preview
Head-to-Head: Djokovic and Faria have never faced off before this in a competitive match.
Novak Djokovic kick-started his campaign to win the Australian Open for the 11th time with a bit of an iffy performance but he eventually came through in four sets against Nishesh Basavareddy.
For about a set and a half, Djokovic was given a fright by the American youngster, who grabbed the first set and was on level terms for some portion of the second. Once Djokovic broke him, however, it was all over for his opponent who also suffered a bit of cramps during the match.
The Serb now takes on a player ranked 125th in the world, one who is coming off a stunning straight-set win over Pavel Kotov. The 21-year-old Jaime Faria was forced to play in the qualifiers to make it to the main draw and that opening win over the 3/5 favourite Kotov gets him close to a place in the top 100.
Faria had never qualified for the main draw of any Grand Slams before this and will now be facing Djokovic for a place in the third round. An all-courter, Faria could have a chance to do something that Basavareddy did too, but over five sets there can only be one winner here.
Djokovic v Faria prediction: Over 25.5 games in the match: 4/9
Tomas Machac v Reilly Opelka Preview
Head-to-Head: Machac and Opelka have never faced off before this.
Tomas Machac did not face any trouble in getting past India’s Sumit Nagal in the first round, defeating him 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 to romp into the second round.
Another win here for Machac will equal his best performance at this competition and could seal his date with Novak Djokovic for a third round battle.
The world number 25 had earlier featured in the United Cup and ended 2-2 with wins over Hubert Hurkacz and Flavio Cobolli to his name.
However, Machac will be up against the fully fit Reilly Opelka, who had featured in the Brisbane International and worked his serving magic there. The American, who had been out of action through most part of the 2023 and returned only for a bit in 2024, defeated Djokovic to make the final of that tournament.
And while he was forced to retire from that match against Jiri Lehecka, Opelka has already shown he can be a handful.
He did need four sets to get past Gauthier Onclin in his opener but Opelka, if his back holds up, has the game to get past Machac.
Machac v Opelka prediction: Opelka to win: 19/10
