We are oh so close to another two weeks when neither sleep nor food nor personal hygiene matter. It’s the time of year when you seriously contemplate to risk a day of bad mood and fast food cravings for a night of watching Coco Gauff win a match 6:2 6:2. Yes, we have all been there, Dave. The draw has been made and here are some first round matches to pay attention to. If you’re a lifestyle fan of tennis like I’m a lifestyle fan of movies (I copy Charlotte Gainsbourg’s fashion but I have no idea which camera Scorsese used for Taxi Driver), now is the time to dream yourself away from Europe’s dreary winter months and East Coast’s biting winter winds by imagining you’re on court 3 inebriated on beer and heat, yelling “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie - oy, oy, oy” a little too loudly to make up for the fact that you are not Aussie at all. But back to the matches to watch.
On the women’s side:
Aforementioned Coco Gauff will face 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia “Sonya” Kenin. The 6:2 6:2 scoreline might still be happening because that’s how in form Coco is right now but if it is it will be a hardly earned one. Kenin beat Gauff twice and both of these wins came at a Grand Slam tournament level. One of those wins happened during Kenin’s run to the 2020 AO crown. Gauff has beaten Kenin before on hardcourt in Auckland. This is definitely one of first round women’s matches to watch.
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka has managed to navigate her magnificent 2024 form through the off-season’s evil waters and has safely carried it over to the new year. She has won the lead-up tournament in Brisbane. But the route ahead is a tricky one as Sloane Stephens, 2017 US Open Champion, awaits in the first round. Sabalenka has a 4:0 head-to-head record but three of those four matches went the whole distance. I’m thinking Aryna with some drama along the road. Good one!
A clash of first-strike tennis is upon us, friends. It’s a re-match from last year where rallies were brief and serves were big. It’s Naomi Osaka and Caroline Garcia battling for a spot in the second round. Osaka has shown some great tennis in Auckland before an abdominal injury halted her winning streak in the final. In hopes that she will be at a 100% once the Australian Open commences, we are in for a goodie here. I’m not saying the tennis will be faultless but it will be powerful. May the force be with them.
Belinda Bencic is back, folks. The classroom felt empty without her down-the-line backhand. She is now a mom of daughter Bella and with it gained perspective and a first round thriller with Jelena Ostapenko. I know, it feels almost like an old school pick but don’t be mad. I picked them because it makes me feel like I’m still on tour. I will be watching however. Not playing.
On the very bottom of the draw, so low you might miss it, we have Iga Swiatek opening her Australian Open with a match against one of the best doubles players in the world and not a shabby singles player either: Katerina Sinaikova. I thought Swiatek looked good at United Cup and I’m not too worried about her but Sinaikova is a tough ask for anybody. Iga’s new coaching relationship with Wim Fissette will be put to the test right away.
My dark horse for this year’s AO lingers in the bottom half of the women’s draw and her name is Katie Boulter. The Australians are trying hard to claim her as their own (she’s engaged to Aussie tennis star Alex De Minaur) and I’m sure they will try even harder once they have seen her play in Melbourne. Great girl, great serve, great star. Maybe I should try and claim her, too?
On the men’s side:
Both top seeds and title defenders at this year’s Australian Open got off to a wrong start with the Gods of the draws. Jannik Sinner will have to face Nicolas Jarry in the first step of his quest to defend a major title for the first time. Jarry serves big and is ranked 34th, just a teeny tiny bit short of 32 which would have had him at a seed and further away from Jannik Sinner. Jannik and his brilliant hair are the ones to beat. I’ve seen him in practice and he’s looking scary good. Again. Or still?
Hubert Hurkacz has swapped his team, his apparel and his racket to start the year off in style. We love a man who’s not afraid of change! No transformation has ever come easy but let’s hope Hurkacz is fully transformed comes Monday because he has Tallon Griekspoor waiting in the first round who challenged many a player in Grand Slam tournaments before. Remember when he was up 4:1 in the fifth set on Alexander Zverev at the French Open? No? Well, let’s hope Hurkacz’s new coach Nicolas Massu does.
A very flamboyant little section has formed itself around 13th seed Holger Rune, the man with the legs, who is playing Triple Z, Zhizhen Zhang, in the first round and will then await one of my favourite indie duo of day 1, you heard it here first (probably not really): Matteo Berrettini vs Cameron Norrie. If that cohort of four does not make your heart beat faster a strong Long Black might do the trick.
The flamboyancy of above mentioned section will only be outdone by the cold-bloodedness of this one a few rows later: Taylor Fritz with a season to remember blowing down his back plays Jenson Brooksby in the first round, okay, but could get Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in round 3. Giovanni’s average second serve speed is faster than some of his peers’ average first serve speeds. He plays Gael Monfils in his first match by the way. It’s a long way to go before we can weigh these players’ cold blood against the Melbournian heat but here’s to hoping.
Two more quick pairings to mention (and we’re still only in the top half), Ben Shelton plays Brendan Nakashima in an All-American clash while the Italians Matteo Arnaldi and Lorenzo Musetti have already secured an Italian in round 2. It’s about time something good happened to Italian tennis.
The man with the most major titles in the history of tennis (we here at Finite Jest do not accept Margaret Court in the running for this) Novak Djokovic will face a teenager in the first round and Andy Murray in his coaching box. If he can get through Andy Murray’s Scottish mumbling from the sidelines he might eventually run into Tomas Machac in the third round which, I’m sure, will be a fabulous match. Machac has beaten Djokovic before and he is a player who loves the big stage but he’s also just had a magnificent meltdown at United Cup. And I will always appreciate a beautiful meltdown.
Carlos Alcaraz got Alexander Shevchenko to open his quest for the career Grand Slam and the only reason I mention it is to say that he has slightly adjusted his serving motion. It looks a lot more fluid and is supposed to give him more consistency. It was off and on in his practice matches but when it was on one could really tell the difference. Any year when Carlos Alcaraz is playing tennis is a good year. Ney, a great year.
And last but not least, in the very bottom of the draw Alexander Zverev gets the first men’s night session spot on Sunday against Frenchman Lucas Pouille, a former Top 10 and semifinalist at the Australian Open. Floating around here are Arthur Fils who is Boris Becker’s dark horse for this season and Nick Kyrgios.
The darkest of dark horses, possibly no darker horse has ever existed: Joao Fonseca who’s gone through qualifying as easily as I eat chocolate in bed. He will face Andrey Rubley in the first round. Two fascinating players and maybe my favourite pairing of them all. But who’s to say!
One thing is for sure: Whatever happens, whoever wins, whenever it ends, we will not have slept, eaten, showered or left our sofas and somehow we will still feel like we did it just right.
Things that make me happy:
I don’t understand it and I don’t think I want to understand it. But Nick Kyrgios showing up to his press conference in a jacket people on the North Pole would think a little much on the hottest day of the week made me genuinely laugh out loud. Not quite sure whether it makes me happy or just laugh but here we are.
And I won’t lie: still Taylor Fritz’s blonde hair.
Things that make me unhappy:
The fires in LA have devastated a lot of homes and landscapes. As Tennis Channel’s headquarters are located in Santa Monica and I work there often I have a lot of friends and colleagues who’ve suffered from apocalyptic scenes. I think of them every day and all the time.
May you enjoy the fortnight ahead! It will be a long one, it will be a short one. Until then, I remain…
Yours truly, Andrea
Charlotte Gainsbourg: an entirely new window into the Petko mind; shocked yet ruminatingly not shocked.
Hope you're right about Katie Boulter! Overdue for a second week run at a major and she's playing great.