The Good and the Bad: AO Week 1 Recap
The 'next gen' arrives, the Monfils show, Tsitsipas' woes, tirades and outbursts
It’s been an eventful opening week at the Australian Open. As always, there’s been plenty of surprise packets, a few meltdowns and some big upsets.
I’ve watched an obscene amount of tennis this week, so I’m going to go through some of the biggest takeaways (good and bad) from Week 1 of the Australian Open, looking across both the men’s and women’s draw.
The good
The ‘next gen’ have arrived
The undoubted highlight of the men’s draw in Week 1 has been the emergence of the next gen – they’ve announced themselves in a big, big way.
Joao Fonseca caused an early frenzy after he dismantled Andrey Rublev in straight sets, before going down in 5 sets to Lorenzo Sonego. Against Rublev, he showcased his fantastic ball-striking ability from both wings, but particularly so from his forehand. Rublev tried to stay inside the baseline as much as he could, but Fonseca’s heat was too much. He’s got all the weapons. His match against Sonego highlighted that he still needs to add a bit of variety to his game, but that will come with time.
Alex Michelsen has been arguably the biggest bolter – he’s booked his maiden fourth round debut at a Grand Slam, and he’s taken the scalps of Tsitsipas and Khachanov along the way. He’s got a fantastic backhand that he can redirect both cross court and down the line. It’s a real weapon. His forehand is also doing damage too – in his post-match interview after beating Khachanov, he said that he is hitting his forehand ‘the best he has in his life’.
Joining Michelsen in the fourth round is Learner Tien, who knocked out Medvedev in a five-setter on Thursday night. Tien outduelled Medvedev in longer, gruelling rallies, which is no easy feat against one of the most experienced players on tour and someone with a penchant for playing long matches. With Sonego to come in the fourth round, an upset is not off the cards. A maiden quarter-final berth at your Australian Open debut would be seriously special.
Fun fact: Tien is the youngest since Rafael Nadal in 2005 to make the Round of 16 at the Australian Open.
Jakub Mensik has probably flown a little more under the radar than some of his peers, but he took down Casper Ruud in 4 sets in the second round, and led two sets to love against Davidovich Fokina in the third round, but couldn’t get the job done. I didn’t get to catch any of his matches, but I’m really keen to in the future.
Nishesh Basavareddy did his stocks no harm after managing to take the first set off Djokovic. He’s also one to keep an eye out for in the future.
The Monfils show
It’s been a huge start to 2025 for Monfils. He’s won 8 matches on the trot, and he’s 9-1 for the year, losing only to Djokovic. That’s the sort of form he’s in.
After taking out the Auckland Classic, he then drew Mpetshi Perricard in the first round of the Australian Open, and you wouldn’t blame him for bemoaning his luck. But he managed to take GMP down in a five-set thriller, and now, has beaten number 4 seed Taylor Fritz on the way to a fourth round appearance. His serve and forehand are firing, and when you mix in a little bit of his wonderful and unpredictable flair, you have a real threat to the rest of the men’s tour. He might be 38, but he’s playing with a real sense of freedom – he’s got nothing to lose.
Iga Swiatek’s bakery is open for business
It’s still early on, but Swiatek is looking in ominous form at this year’s AO. She’s benefitted from a kind draw, but she is dispatching her opponents with aplomb. Iga’s Bakery has been well and truly back in business, dishing out 2 bagels in her last two matches – one of them coming against Emma Raducanu. She’s now delivered 86 bagels and she’s only 23. And as per the tweet below, 12% of the sets she plays in Grand Slams result in her winning 6-0. That’s phenomenal.
Honourable mentions
Eva Lys: Despite being given just 10 minutes notice to arrive on court following Anna Kalinskaya’s late withdrawal, Eva Lys has managed to book a maiden fourth round berth at a Grand Slam. She is the first women’s singles player to reach the round of 16 at the Australian Open (since 1988) and has equalled the best-ever Grand Slam result for a lucky loser in women’s history. However, after a kind draw, a tougher assignment awaits against Iga Swiatek.
Andrey Rublev: He might have gone down to Fonseca in the first round, but Andrey Rublev appeared to handle the loss well. He threw his racquet once, but it was only a half-hearted throw, and a lot of that intense anger that we have come to expect from Rublev on court wasn’t there on Tuesday night. He’s talked recently about working through some of his mental health struggles, and although he acknowledges that there’s more he wants to do, it’s nice to see Rublev in a better place.
Jack Draper’s fitness: Jack Draper’s fitness – once a weakness – appears to be going from strength to strength. He’s been slogging it out at this year’s Australian Open, playing three consecutive 5 setters. He looked in great touch in the deep stages of his match against Aleksandar Vukic on Friday night, and he’s recently spoken about how much work he’s put into his fitness, including working on his breathing.
The bad
Stefanos Tsitsipas’ woes continue
Stefanos Tsitsipas cut a dejected figure after his loss in four sets to Michelsen in the first round, and is looking like a shell of his former self at present. Much of his recent struggles stem from his backhand side – it has become an easy wing to target for his opponents.
As
discussed in a recent article - the pace of tennis has shifted in the last few years. It’s much faster, much more powerful than before. And as the skillsets of the next generation continue to become progressively more well-rounded, it feels as if Tsitsipas is beginning to fall behind the pack. I think he senses it too.
Nick Kyrgios
There was plenty of talk in the build-up from Nick Kyrgios in the lead-up to this year’s Australian Open, but there was not much to show for it. He was soundly beaten by Fearnley in Round 1, and he looked clearly underdone and struggling with an abdominal injury.
The Australian Open has generally been a happy place for Kyrgios – with multiple fourth round appearances and a QF appearance – but it wasn’t to be in 2025. Will he back in 2026? There’s been talk of retirement, but it’s best to take a hearty pinch of salt from Kyrgios’s interviews.
Danielle Collins’ tirade
It’s one thing to goad the crowd after a win, and it can be somewhat understandable if the support has been against you all night – especially if it’s a boisterous Australian crowd. Probably less so when considering that Collins’ opponent was Destanee Aiava, who’s had a great comeback story.
But it’s another thing to brag about pay checks in interviews. She has every liberty to do so, but it leaves a slightly bitter taste in the mouth.
Qinwen Zheng
It was a lacklustre start to the year for Zheng, who fell to the ever-wily Laura Siegemund in the second round.
Zheng opted to skip the United Cup and any other lead-up tournaments prior to the Australian Open, and while that rest was undoubtedly well-deserved, it came at the expense of being a little rusty. She struggled to get her unforced errors under control over the match, and then received a time violation early in the second set and never recovered from there.
Daniil Medvedev
After being two sets to love up in last year’s Australian Open final against Sinner, Medvedev was bundled out in the second round of this year’s tournament. It was somewhat on the cards, particularly as he had virtually no preparation coming into the Australian Open following the birth of his second child.
He scraped through against Samrej in the first round, and while many saw the funny side to his interview, I personally didn’t like the lack of credit he gave to his opponent. Smashing the net camera wasn’t a great look either (well, it was kind of funny in the animated version). He’s not the first to have an outburst, and he won’t be the last, but it was a wholly underwhelming showing from Medvedev this January.
Honourable mention: Felix Auger-Aliassime
After watching FAA down Taylor Fritz at the United Cup earlier in the month, and then seeing him impressively claim the Adelaide International shortly after, I thought things may have been looking up again for Felix in 2025.
It wasn’t to be. He was up two sets to the good against Davidovich Fokina but still lost in five. It’s another frustrating result for FAA, whose inability to close out matches is still haunting him. Until he gets the mental side of his game right, he’ll struggle to go deep in any tournament. There’s still so much potential there.
Another fascinating week of tennis awaits. For the first time ever, I’m attending the Australian Open - I’ll be here for the fourth round and the quarters. I’m going to try and squeeze in as many matches as I can.
Alcaraz vs Djokovic would be incredible to see live. Here’s hoping!
Thanks as always for reading.
Great post! Collins is what the sport needs. Eyeballs
Agree great 1st week, enjoy watching live matches at AO plenty of great games to come!