First round singles action concludes on Tuesday in Melbourne.
Day 3 provides several intriguing first round encounters in the men’s singles draw. Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettiini takes on Wimbledon semifinalist Cameron Norrie. 38-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils plays 21-year-old Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. And a struggling Andrey Rublev goes up against a newcomer who has a lot of hype surrounding his game, as 18-year-old Joao Fonseca plays his first main draw match at a Major.
WTA action on Tuesday sees two impressive and up-and-coming Americans face off, as Emma Navarro goes up against Peyton Stearns.
Plus, Daniil Medvedev, Elena Rybakina, Jasmine Paolini, Taylor Fritz, and Stan Wawrinka will begin their 2025 Australian Open campaigns.
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.
Matteo Berrettini vs. Cameron Norrie – 11:00am on Kia Arena
2024 was an odd season for Berrettini, who continues to strive for his previous form after suffering from a plethora of injuries. Last season he went 32-12, with three 250-level titles. However, Matteo’s results at big events were nonexistent. He went 1-5 at Masters tournaments, and just 2-2 at Majors. After missing this event a year ago, and losing in the first round the year before that, the Italian is looking for his first win in Melbourne since 2022.
Like Berrettini, Norrie is also a former top 10 player who comes into this Slam unseeded due to a disappointing season. He was only 21-18 during 2024, as he battled injuries of his own. And he’s only 7-6 lifetime at the Australian Open, though he did advance to the fourth round last year.
Their only previous meeting occurred in the final of Queens Club back in 2021, when Berrettini prevailed in three sets just a few weeks before reaching his only Major final to date. In what could be a prolonged battle to start the day on Tuesday between two players eager for a big win, I give the slight edge to Matteo. He should be able to dictate play with his monster serve and forehand. And if this match does go the distance, Tennis Abstract tells us the Italian is 7-2 in five-setters, while the Brit is only 6-7.
Emma Navarro (8) vs. Peyton Stearns – 11:30am on Rod Laver Arena
What a breakout year Navarro had in 2024. She went 46-22 at WTA level, and bettered her best Major result at each Slam as the year progressed. Emma reached the third round in Melbourne, the fourth round in Paris, the quarterfinals in London, and the semifinals in New York. However, she’s off to a slow start early in 2025, going just 1-2 coming into this event.
Stearns is a fellow 23-year-old American who like Navarro initially made her mark playing college tennis in the US. While she is ranked almost 40 spots below Emma, Peyton has also made an impression on tour from a young age. She advanced to the fourth round of the 2023 US Open, and last March in Indian Wells, was just one point away from upsetting Aryna Sabalenka. To begin 2025, she upset Maria Sakkari, and lost extremely tight matchups against both Daria Kasatkina and Paula Badosa.
Stearns is a dogged competitor with an in-your-face kind of attitude on court, which serves as a stark contrast to Navarro’s more demure demeanor. And these players know each other well, as they’ve met five times at all levels, with Emma leading 4-1, and having taken their last four encounters. Navarro’s consistency and confidence should enable her to prevail again on Tuesday.
Gael Monfils vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (30) – Second on Court 3
Mpetshi Perricard has quickly become a formidable force on tour. Last May in just his fourth ATP event, he won the Lyon title in his home country. A few months later, he won a 500-level title in Basel, with victories over Felix Auger-Aliassime, Holger Rune, and Ben Shelton. And he started this season by reaching the semifinals of Brisbane, where he upset Frances Tiafoe. Perricard is a humongous server, and as per the ATP, averages 70% of service points won.
In this first round match, he faces France’s old guard in Monfils, one of the speediest and most likeable players the sport has even known. While Gael was just 25-21 during 2024, he’s off to a 6-1 start to his 2025, having won the title just a few days ago in Auckland. Monfils is a two-time Australian Open quarterfinalist, achieving that result as recently as 2022.
In this first career meeting between two different generations of Frenchmen, what will win the day: the pure power of Perricard, or the speed and flair of Monfils? Of course experience could play a huge factor here as well, and it’s never easy to defeat an elder fellow countryman who you have looked up to. Yet given the fast court speed in Melbourne, I favor Perricard in what should be a fascinating battle.
Andrey Rublev (9) vs. Joao Fonseca (Q) – Last on Margaret Court Arena
Fonseca is another young player who has put the tennis world on notice. The Brazilian teenager was the boys’ runner-up two years ago here in Melbourne, before going on to win the boys’ title later that year at the US Open. And now Joao arrives in Melbourne on a 13-match win streak at all levels. He became the latest Next Gen champion in December, then won a Challenger title in Canberra, and came through qualifying here last week.
Fonseca has been completely dominant during his first eight matches of this season, winning all 16 sets he’s contested, and as per Tennis Abstract, averaging a match time of only 67 minutes. Joao is a big ball striker with plenty of variety in his game. Many pundits have already earmarked Joao as a future Major champion, and there has not been this much buzz regarding a young player since Carlos Alcaraz came along several years ago.
Of late, there’s unfortunately been more buzz regarding Rublev’s on-court outbursts than his tennis, as his racket abuse and self-harm have frankly become quite disturbing. He opened up about his mental and emotional struggles in a recent interview with The Guardian, describing how he stopped taking anti-depression pills, as they were not making him feel better, and instead started working with a psychologist. Andrey says he is already feeling a lot less stress and anxiety due to this work.
Rublev’s recent results will not be bringing him much confidence ahead of this highly-anticipated opening round, as he’s lost six of his last seven matches. Fonseca is the player coming into this contest with all the momentum, and I like his chances of pulling off a big upset over the ninth seed in his Major debut.
Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:
Elena Rybakina (6) vs. Emerson Jones (WC) – Rybakina was the runner-up here two years ago, but is unfortunately the focus of much concern regarding her coaching situation. She recently re-added long-time coach Stefano Vukov to her team, only for the WTA to reveal Vukov has been provisionally suspended from the tour for breaching the WTA’s code of conduct. Emerson Jones is a 16-year-old Australian wild card ranked 371st in the world.
Taylor Fritz (4) vs. Jenson Brooksby – This is the highest Fritz has ever been seeded at a Major, coming off his run to the US Open final last September, and a United Cup victory to start 2025. For Brooksby, this is his first match in two full years, as he underwent wrist surgery in early 2023, and also served a 13-month provisional suspension from the sport for missing three doping tests. Jenson took their only prior encounter, in a four-hour four-setter at the 2021 US Open.
Kasidit Samrej (WC) vs. Daniil Medvedev (5) – Medvedev arrived in Australia just a few days before this tournament began, as his wife just gave birth to their second child. Samrej is a 23-year-old from Thailand ranked 414th in the world, and this is his first ATP-level event outside of Davis Cup.
Lorenzo Sonego vs. Stan Wawrinka – Wawrinka went just 12-20 last year at all levels, and the 2014 champ hasn’t won a match at the Australian Open since 2021. But is he 1-0 against Sonego, having defeated him 18 months ago on clay.
Sijia Wei (Q) vs. Jasmine Paolini (4) – Paolini had the season of her life in 2024, but can she follow-up on those tremendous results in 2025? Sijia is a 21-year-old qualifier from China making her Major debut.
Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.
