The Australian Open – It’s a Party!
10 January 2025
Our 2025 Preview of the ‘Happy Slam’
This weekend, the Australian Open kicks off in Melbourne, and it's going to be a big one! The AO, as it's known, is more than just a tennis tournament – it's a massive event with something for everyone.
AO radio host Peter Marcato says it best: "It's a party, it's an event. It's something that you go to as an event. I think some of the others are more based around you're going to a tennis tournament, and it is a large tennis tournament, compared to some of the others around the place. But certainly, I think the Australian Open is more than just the tennis”.
This is one BIG event! “When you arrive on site, one thing that you will notice is that it's big…. The Melbourne Park precinct extends almost from the middle of the city through. And you got all the courts and the major courts and everything like that throughout and to the suburbs, and it's grown year on year. Obviously, the tennis is the main focus, but you also have things like concerts going on, particularly in the second week… There's fun for the kids too, to be had. So it's not just walking in and watching people play tennis.”
That said, the tennis is sure to be incredible. Across just over two weeks of captivating action on the courts, we’ll witness stars being born and the greats battling to dominate again. Among those greats, Novak Djokovic, who took the shock decision to appoint his legendary rival Andy Murray as his coach.
The Serb failed to win any titles last year – that was the shock that preceded his astonishing request to the recently retired Murray. The two players, born just a week apart in May 1987, met for the first time as 11-year-olds. Murray easily won that encounter, but in the subsequent 26 years and 36 matches, Djokovic dominated, with 25 victories, notably in four of his 10 Australian Open finals (2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016). Marcato added some insight: “Andy's quite openly said, well, this has come out of the blue… I wasn't expecting it…. Novak called me and obviously he had to run it past his wife. Of course, to get permission to go back out on the road. But, you know, what are those one percenters in the Djokovic game that someone who has been there right at the very top of the men's game would understand, as opposed to any other potential coach?”
So, Djokovic, who’s targeting a record-breaking 25th slam, clearly believes the man who twice beat him in major finals (US Open 2012 and Wimbledon 2013) holds the key to his resurgence in 2025, starting in Melbourne. But superb as the Serb’s pedigree is, and however canny Murray proves as a coach, it won’t be easy to see off defending champion and current world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, especially considering hthe 37-year-old’s below-par form in the Brisbane International. Djokovic was defeated in the quarter-finals.
As for Sinner, who completed the entire 2024 season without a single straight-set defeat, becoming only the second man in the Open Era (Federer in 2005) to achieve this feat over a full year, the Italian has wowed the crowds in practice sessions ahead of Sunday’s Australian Open draw. The 23-year-old has something of a cloud hanging over him: he had tested positive for a banned substance in March, but was exonerated by the International Tennis Integrity Agency after explaining that it had entered his system after treatment for a cut. However, the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed, and requested that the Court of Arbitration investigate. As Sinner awaits the verdict, he remains focused on his game and his ambition to start the New Year in the same superlative fashion as he ended the last.
Sinner – and Djokovic – will face stiff competition from 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, who is determined to win the Australian Open and complete the “career Grand Slam”. Only eight men have won all four Grand Slam titles – and this young Spaniard wants to make that elite group a sublime nine. For the record, Novak Djokovic is already on the list!
For home fans, Nick Kyrgios’ fight for fitness is the focus. He played at the Brisbane International, but this is a different level. Marcato says,”If he does step out on the court… he'll probably be playing at on John Cain Arena, which is his favorite stadium in the whole planet. And really the atmosphere out there is going to be enormous. As plenty of players have found out, the crowd's going to be overwhelmingly on the side of Kyrgios.”
As for the women’s draw, all eyes will be on Aryna Sabalenka. She will be huge draw for the crowds. “Sabalenka is starting to establish really her own fan base,” Marcato told us. “Obviously it's driven by what she's been able to achieve in her career, but she's so prolific on on social media, all those dance videos and things that she does. She's now starting to get a large fan base, too, that are really getting behind her.”
The Belarusian, who triumphed in Brisbane, will seek to defend her Australian Open title across the coming weeks. If she does, Sabalenka will become the first woman to win three consecutive Australian Open singles titles since Martina Hingis in 1999.
The 26-year-old has added variability to her game: she used to win matches, and tournaments, thanks to her brutal shotmaking ability; now, she is increasingly comfortable at the net and can surprise her opponents with unexpected shots. In addition, with the help of a sports psychologist, she has developed remarkable composure. Previously, Sabalenka sabotaged her chances by losing her cool; these days, she almost always retains her equanimity, even under duress. Such improvements saw her reach the final of the last four hardcourt majors, winning the last two in Melbourne and the US Open last September.
Still, the WTA Finals in Riyadh didn’t go her way – she lost to Coco Gauff, who went on to defeat Iga Swiatek in the final.
Swiatek is the World No. 1 and she, like Sinner, tested positive for a banned substance; again, the ITIA found her to be at 'no significant fault' and handed her a one-month ban. The Polish player has admitted that the fall-out was worrying her, but, supported by her psychologist Daria Abramowicz, she has regained her focus and will be targeting her first Gland Slam Down Under and the sixth Grand Slam title of her career.
However, the woman who left her in tears at the end of the United Cup Final, 20-year-old Gauff, is looking in superb form. The American said after that Riyadh victory, “I have the belief that I’m one of the best players in the world. When I play good tennis, I’m hard to beat.”
Marcato reckons there could be a surprise, though: “You got someone like Elena Ostapenko who comes in as the 16th seed, who could have a real terrible run in the opening round and go out easily or win the tournament like the oscillations backwards. And that's what makes it so much fun…There might be that player to make that run. We've seen that in Australian Open,”
Unfortunately, it won’t be reigning Wimbledon champion, Barbora Krejcikova: she has withdrawn with a back injury. Even so, the women’s draw in Melbourne looks as mesmerisingly exciting as the men’s.
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