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After a short break in the tennis schedule, the world’s top stars gathered in Australia to welcome the first Grand Slam tournament of the year to kick off in Melbourne.
Among the next generation of tennis icons including defending champion Janik Sinner and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz, all-time great Novak Djokovic will compete on his favorite hunting ground A record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title.
In the women’s draw, Aryna Sabalenka will continue her happy streak in Australia but will face Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Qin Fierce competition from Qinwen Cheng.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2025 Australian Open:
When does the 2025 Australian Open main draw start?
After six days of qualifying, the main draw will begin on Sunday, January 12.
When will the 2025 Australian Open final be held?
Men’s Singles: Sunday 26 January 7:30pm (08:30 GMT)
Women’s Singles: Saturday 25 January 7:30pm (08:30 GMT)
Men’s Doubles: Saturday, January 25 (after Women’s Singles Final)
Mixed Doubles: Saturday, January 25 (after the Men’s Doubles final)
Women’s Doubles: Sunday, January 26 (after Men’s Singles Final)
Where is the Australian Open held?
The match will be played on blue hard courts at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia.
The three main stadiums are the 15,000-seat Rod Laver Arena, the 10,500-seat John Cairn Arena and the 7,500-seat Margaret Court Arena. Margaret Court Arena.
How are the players in the tournament drawn?
As with other Grand Slam tournaments, the top 32 players in the ATP and WTA rankings will automatically enter the main draw and be seeded to ensure they do not meet in the early rounds of the tournament.
Most of the remaining players entered the main draw after participating in qualifying rounds, while some – local players and former Grand Slam champions who have fallen down the rankings – received wild-card entries from tournament organizers.
Who is the defending champion of the Australian Open?
Men’s Singles: Janik Sinner (Italy)
Women’s Singles: Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus)
Men’s Doubles: Rohan Bopanna (India) and Matthew Ebden (Australia)
Women’s Doubles: Hsieh Su-Wei (Taiwan), Elise Mertens (Belgium)
Mixed Doubles: Hsieh Su-Wei (Taiwan), Jan Zielinski (Poland)
Who is the top seed?
Men’s singles (top 10):
- Yannick Sinner (Italy)
- Alexander Zverev (Germany)
- Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
- Taylor Fritz (USA)
- Daniil Medvedev (Russia/No Flag)
- Casper Rudd (Norway)
- Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
- Alex De Minaur (Australia)
- Andrei Rublev (Russia/No Flag)
- Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
Women’s singles (top 10):
- Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus/no flag)
- Iga Swiatek (Poland)
- Coco Goff (USA)
- Jasmine Paolini (Italy)
- Qinwen Zheng (China)
- Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
- Jessica Pegula (USA)
- Emma Navarro (USA)
- Daria Kasatkina (Russia/No Flag)
- Danielle Collins (USA)
Who is favorite to win the 2025 Australian Open?
Men’s singles:
Djokovic: Despite failing to win a Grand Slam and a record 25th singles title in 2024, the 37-year-old won an Olympic gold medal. The Serbian will never go unnoticed in Australia, where he has enjoyed huge success and will now be coached by long-time rival Andy Murray.
If he wins in Melbourne, it will be his 100th career title and only the third person in the Open era to reach the milestone after Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103). people.
sinner: The Italian won his first Grand Slam title in Australia last year and won eight titles in 2024, establishing himself as the undisputed world number one and leading Italy to successfully defend the Davis Cup.
However, the 23-year-old’s season has been rocked by doping allegations which he denies.
Sinner did not lose in straight sets in 2024, becoming the first player to do so since Federer in 2005, and will start 2025 in similar fashion in Australia.
Alcaraz: The 21-year-old Spaniard already has four Grand Slam titles since winning the US Open in 2022, but has failed to advance beyond the quarter-finals in three previous Melbourne editions and has reached the eighth in 2024. powerful. Alexander Zverev.
He is already the youngest man to win a Grand Slam on all three surfaces (clay, hard and grass) and if he wins in Australia he will surpass compatriot Rafael Nadal to complete the career Grand Slam The youngest person ever.
Alcaraz has never lost a Grand Slam final, but after winning four titles, he was ranked third in the world due to injury in 2024, taking his career total to 16 titles.
Women’s singles:
Sabalenka: The Belarusian, who is on course to win a third consecutive Australian Open title after a career-best season in 2024, was named WTA Player of the Year last month.
If Sabalenka goes her way, she will become the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1999 to win the Australian Open three years in a row, opening the season with Brees. The class international competition showed enthusiasm for the trophy, with only one group missing.
The victory continued the 26-year-old’s excellent form since 2024, which has seen her reach seven finals and win four events.
Swiatek: The world number two is a five-time major champion but she has never shined at Melbourne Park, only reaching the fourth round in 2022.
The Pole began her 2025 campaign with four straight singles wins but continued to compete a month after taking the drug after testing positive for doping, a banned substance she said came from a contaminated supplement.
Swiatek has competed in and won all five of her Grand Slam finals, four of which were at Roland Garros.
Goff: The 20-year-old has bounced back impressively from his farewell to coach Brad Gilbert to win the WTA 1000 event in Beijing and the WTA Tour Finals until the end of 2024.
The world number three was once again in top form as she inspired the United States to victory over Poland in the Fed Cup mixed team event and she is confident going into Melbourne.
The American is hoping to win her second Grand Slam title in Melbourne.
Queens come to compete for the Melbourne Crown👑 pic.twitter.com/XnmfdZlixT
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 8, 2025
What’s the prize?
Total bonuses are $59.8 million, a 12% increase from 2024.
The U.S. Open will award a prize of US$2.16 million to the singles champion, and the men’s and women’s doubles champion team will receive a bonus of US$502,000.
The breakdown of singles categories (men’s and women’s) is as follows:
Winner: $2.16 million
Runner-up: $1.17 million
Semifinalists: $680,000
Quarterfinalists: $412,242
Top 16: $260,363
Round 3: $179,759
Round 2: $123,974
Round 1: $81,822
Where to watch, follow and live stream the Australian Open Grand Slam event?
Al Jazeera will provide live text and photo coverage of the men’s and women’s singles finals.
The official broadcasters of the Australian Open are:
- Africa: beIN Sports and SuperSport.
- Europe: Eurosport, SRG SSR.
- Asia Pacific and Oceania: ESPN, Tennis Channel, beIN Sports, CCTV, iQiyi, GDTV, WOWOW, Jiujiang, Stan Sport, Digicel, CJ ENM, TDM, ESPN International, SKY, Sportcast and K-Plus.
- India and Subcontinent: Sony Sports Network.
- Latin America and the Caribbean: ESPN International.
- Middle East: beIN Sports.
- North America: ESPN, TSN, RDS and Tennis Channel.
- Central Asia: Sony Sports Channel and Eurosport.
