First round singles action concludes on Tuesday in Melbourne.
The women take center stage on Day 3, which features many high-profile first round encounters. Four-time Major champion and World No.1 Iga Swiatek faces 2020 Australian Open champ Sofia Kenin. 2022 Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina takes on two-time Major runner-up Karolina Pliskova. Plus, new mother and three-time Slam champ Angelique Kerber returns to Grand Slam competition against Danielle Collins, a finalist here two years ago.
On the men’s side, two-time Major champ Carlos Alcaraz makes his 2024 debut against veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Another impressive member of tennis’ new generation, Holger Rune, will also be in action on Tuesday, as will the man who defeated him a week ago, Grigor Dimitrov, who is back to playing some of the best tennis of his career.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Tuesday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Sofia Kenin – 12:00pm on Rod Laver Arena
Swiatek had another excellent season in 2023, going 68-11 with six titles, which included her fourth Major at Roland Garros. And her victory on the last day of the season at the WTA Finals clinched her the year-end No.1 ranking for the second straight year. Iga started the 2024 season by going 5-0 in the United Cup, with victories over three top 20 players. She’s advanced to the second week in each of the last four years in Melbourne, but is yet to reach a final.
Kenin did just that back in 2020, when she surprised the tennis world by becoming a Major champion, with wins against Ash Barty and Garbine Muguruza. Sofia would reach another Slam final later that year at Roland Garros, losing to Swiatek 6-4, 6-1. But injuries and illnesses continually sidelined Kenin in the coming years, and she was just 23-18 last season at tour level.
Their French Open final is their only previous meeting. A fast hard court would seemingly better suit Kenin, though some reports suggest the courts at Melbourne Park are playing slower than normal this year. While Sofia is still capable of challenging top players, as we saw when she upset Coco Gauff six months ago at Wimbledon, Iga is a considerable favorite.
Camila Giorgi vs. Victoria Azarenka (18) – Second on Margaret Court Arena
Azarenka was the champion here 11 and 12 years ago respectively, and last year returned to the semifinals, thanks to victories over Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula. Yet during the rest of 2023, Vika went just 16-16, failing to reach another tournament semifinal. But she did begin 2024 by advancing to the semis in Brisbane, where she beat Jelena Ostapenko before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.
Giorgi remains a threat to nearly any player on any day, with her aggressive style that can either rack up winners quickly, or spray errors all over the court. The Italian was 21-15 last season, but just 3-4 at Majors. Camila has never been beyond the third round of the Australian Open.
These players have split four previous encounters, though the only recent one was a straight-set victory for Azarenka, last March in Miami. The two-time champion should be favored to take a 3-2 edge in their head-to-head on Tuesday.
Danielle Collins vs. Angelique Kerber – Second on 1573 Arena
Five years ago in the fourth round of this tournament, Collins absolutely crushed Kerber by a score of 6-0, 6-2. The season before on grass, Kerber had easily claimed their other prior meeting with the loss of just as many games, but that Australian Open thrashing is the kind of match that sticks with both players.
For Angie, this is just her second tournament since leaving the tour 18 months ago and becoming a mother. She went 1-4 two weeks ago in the United Cup, though all four losses came against top 30 players. Of course she won her first Major at this event back in 2016, when she upset Serena Williams in the championship match.
Collins also has fond memories at this tournament, as she reached the semifinals the same year she defeated Kerber, and was the runner-up here in 2022. Danielle was only 20-18 last year, but she usually shows up in a big way at the hard court Majors, where she’s 6-0 in her last six first round matches. Considering their history at this event, and how early Kerber is in her return, I favor Collins.
Elena Rybakina (3) vs. Karolina Pliskova – 7:00pm on Rod Laver Arena
Rybakina started off 2024 in dominant fashion, dropping only 15 games across nine sets to take the title in Brisbane, which included a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Sabalenka. That was a rematch from last year’s final at this event, Elena’s second Major final in as many years. While she lost in the quarters last week in Adelaide, getting a few days to rest was likely best for her ahead of this fortnight.
Pliskova, a former World No.1, has endured a challenging few seasons ever since suffering an arm injury at the start of 2022, and ended her 2023 season early due to a left wrist injury. However, she still excels at the hard court Slams, where she’s advanced to the quarterfinals or better nine times across the past eight years. Karolina was a quarterfinalist here a year ago, when she was upset by Magda Linette.
The history between two of the WTA’s biggest servers and hitters has been decidedly one-sided. Rybakina leads 3-0, and 6-0 in sets, with all three matches occurring on hard courts. And judging by how she began this season, Elena will make it 4-0 against Karolina on Day 3.
Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:
Grigor Dimitrov (13) vs. Marton Fucsovics – Dimitrov ended 2023 by reaching the final in Bercy, and started 2024 by winning the title in Brisbane. But he is 1-2 against Fucsovics, who at the 2020 US Open, outlasted Dimitrov in a near five-hour five-setter.
Holger Rune (8) vs. Yoshihito Nishioka – Rune went 44-24 last season, and reached a career-high ranking of No.4, but is still looking to advance beyond the quarterfinals of a Major, a round he’s now 0-3 in. Nishioka reached the second week of a Slam for the first time at this event a year ago, and is 1-0 against Holger, having defeated him 6-4 in the third last year in Brisbane.
Richard Gasquet vs. Carlos Alcaraz (2) – Alcaraz accumulated 65 match wins last season, as well as his second Major title, but arrives in Melbourne having not advanced to a final since the heartbreaking loss he suffered in the championship match of Cincinnati last August at the hands of Novak Djokovic. Gasquet went 0-4 at Slams in 2023, and is 0-1 against Carlitos.
Rebecca Marino (Q) vs. Jessica Pegula (5) – Pegula has now reached six Major quarterfinals within the past three years, including three in a row at this event, though she’s yet to advance farther. Marino is a 33-year-old Canadian who stepped away from the sport for several years last decade, and has lost 10 of her last 12 main draw matches at Slams.
Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.
