Our Global Tennis Ambassador discusses all the major storylines at the first Grand Slam of the year, including Jannik Sinner’s title defence and Coco Gauff’s impressive form.
Visit Betway’s tennis betting page.
The Australian Open is always interesting. As a player, I would show up and could tell who had been working, who had got a proper offseason, and who didn’t look like they had taken advantage of the time granted.
I think everyone generally arrives in Australia in a pretty good mood. Most of Earth is going from somewhere that’s super cold and maybe a little grey to one of the happiest, friendliest, sunniest places on the planet. You could feel the Aussie culture and the way they love sport, and in turn it made you feel good at the first Grand Slam of the year.
Sinner’s my pick amid drug case controversy
Jannik Sinner is the favourite in the Men’s, and he’s the person that I think will win. Will he dominate the year like he did in 2024? There is the cloud of the WADA case over him, so there’s every chance that this is the last time we see him for six months or a year. A lot depends on how his case shakes out, but I do think he is the best hardcourt player in the world. He has wrestled that mantle away from Novak Djokovic after a decade-plus run with that moniker. I think Sinner’s the one to beat in Australia, and I certainly wouldn’t bet against him.
Carlos Alcaraz is his closest rival, but everyone knows he needs to find more consistency, and he’s not saying anything different.
He won two Slams in 2024, which is nuts. We know his top level might be the best in the world. He won all his matches against Sinner in sanctioned events, but the consistency is the issue. Who’s more likely to lose early in a Slam right now between Sinner and Alcaraz? It’s Carlos.
But I listened to him at an event in Charlotte, where I live, and he glossed over the two Slams very quickly and spent a lot of time talking about how he wants to be more consistent. For me, I’m thinking: “OK. You had a year that was better than my entire career, in five weeks!” I think he is laser focused on what he can improve upon, and I think that makes him even more impressive.
I was, apparently, a dummy for thinking that tennis was going to go through a bit of a dip after what I call the ‘one-namers’ – Roger, Rafa, Serena, Venus. We’ve had really good players who are also stars fill the void, with Coco Gauff coming through, Aryna Sabalenka having this personality that jumps through the screen – for better or worse – Sinner being as good as he has become, and Alcaraz now attempting to be the youngest to ever complete the career Grand Slam. I don’t know that I saw this level of talent coming through right away, and I think tennis is pretty lucky to have it.
Djokovic-Murray partnership makes sense in so many ways
The other big story is that this is Andy Murray’s first Slam as Djokovic’s coach.
Here’s what I think is going to happen: If Novak does really well, we’re going to give Andy Murray – who I think has one of the highest tennis IQs ever – too much credit. And if something weird happens, we’re going to give Murray too much blame.
Novak’s not going to change too much from what has got him to 24 Slams and 10 titles in Australia. It’s as simple as this – there are very few people that Novak can sit across from at dinner and talk about tennis and strategy, who understand the moment and what he’s trying to do, and whose brain he respects enough to actually consider their opinions. I think Andy Murray is one of those few, so it makes sense in so many ways.
The common ground with both is that there was never any stone left unturned. They’re both still extremely curious, despite all their successes. It does help that they’ve known each other for so long. I worked with Jimmy Connors and we didn’t know each other before we got together, and while it was a super beneficial relationship, there was this ice-breaking part of it. They can just skip right over that, which is a massive benefit for Novak at this point in his career.
I’m not ever going to undersell anyone making the semis of a Grand Slam, because I know that’s really hard, but I don’t think Novak is playing for quarter-finals now. He might play great and lose, but he won’t leave saying: “well, we did our best.” Having Tomas Machac and Reilly Opelka in his part of the draw is brutal, and with Alcaraz potentially in the quarter-finals it doesn’t get any easier. But as my friend Paul Annacone says, you write the greats off at your own peril.
I hope Kyrgios commits and makes a run
Nick Kyrgios has again been in the news off the court, and comes into the Australian Open after a long layoff with a wrist injury. Kyrgios is a huge influencer in the world of tennis. He creates headlines, so people who make money from views and clicks have to talk about him. At the best of times, you wouldn’t say that Kyrgios’ fitness was the thing to carry him through. It takes a lot of work and discipline, and he has admitted that those weren’t always the things he was super interested in. Those things matter even more when you’re coming off a layoff of close to two years.
He pulled out of an exhibition this week after losing in the first round in in Brisbane, and said it would be a miracle if he even plays in Melbourne, but was then able to perform a miracle and play doubles the next day.
Who knows? There’s going to be more interest in tennis if Nick finally commits, gets in shape and really gives it a run. I’m not sure we’ve ever seen that, and I hope he does it because he is that talented. You can have a lot of opinions and be a controversial figure, but the thing that makes him fascinating is that after a two-year layoff, I’m being asked if he’s a contender. It’s a tip of the cap to his talent level, which is no one has any doubts about because he’s a phenomenal tennis player.
Mpetshi Perricard and Machac among the players to watch
There are a few dark horses in the Men’s draw. I like Jiri Lehecka in Novak’s section, and I love the way Sebastian Korda has looked early in the season. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is a name that nobody wants to see, and he’s lined up to meet Taylor Fritz at a certain point with Gael Monfils before that. I think Machac is going to be really good this year and will flirt with a top 10 position.
Someone who we haven’t really talked about is the No. 2 seed, Alex Zverev, as well as Daniil Medvedev. These are guys who we almost don’t give enough attention based on what they’ve accomplished and how good they are.
Sabalenka formidable on this surface, but Gauff is full of confidence
In the Women’s, Aryna Sabalenka is the clear favourite on this surface and I don’t think you can bet against her on the hardcourt, but Coco Gauff has entered a conversation that she was missing from since last year’s Australian Open. She actually played really well there and had Sabalenka against the ropes, but she struggled from March to September. Coco has played phenomenally well recently, winning the WTA Finals and serving a lot better, and then running the table in the United Cup and beating Iga Swiatek twice in a row. That covers a lot of real estate for confidence – going against her toughest match-up and winning a couple of times.
Coco was the best player in the summer leading up to her US Open win, and you can very easily make the case that she’s been the best player since last year’s US Open. You probably put a little more stock in Sabalenka winning the US Open and winning in Brisbane this year, but Coco is a different player than she was even last August. She battled some really tough stuff mentally last year and still finished at No. 3 in the world. If three in the world is her floor, I still don’t think we’ve been even close to her ceiling.
Iga Swiatek is coming off those two defeats to Coco Gauff and has a drug case hanging over her head as well. She’s not someone that is thirsty for attention outside of her accomplishments. With her process and her discipline, there’s a reason why she’s won as many majors as she has, and has been so great already. We’ll see if she has the ability to compartmentalise like Jannik Sinner has. They are very different personalities and they’ll both end up being all-time greats, but they go about it a little bit differently.
Rybakina’s coaching situation is a distraction
Elena Rybakina is among the top contenders, but much of the talk is around the return of her former coach, Stefano Vukov, to her team.
I haven’t heard it directly from the source, but I’ve heard from sources that I trust that her current coach, Goran Ivanisevich, didn’t know about Vukov coming back until Rybakina put it on social media. That’s a really strange thing, and a tough situation to be in.
Apparently, there is a temporary suspension, and a lot of us talking heads probably don’t know as much as we’re expected to talk about, but I think anytime the conversation is about that as opposed to the tennis is not ideal. I think it would have been very easy for her to slide into this tournament under the radar if not for this story. It seems like it’s an unnecessary distraction that she might have brought back into the fold.
Raducanu needs to ‘drive on the freeway’
Maybe this is a terrible analogy, but I want Emma Raducanu to drive on the freeway at some time without stopping. I feel like it’s all city driving since her unbelievable run at the US Open.
I’m not there when she’s training, but is there a way to build up the body better? Is it more time spent training? Is it a scheduling thing? I think it probably could be a little bit of all of those.
What I know for sure is that we would all be better off if we saw a healthy version of Emma more often. She’s a star of the game, she’s wildly intelligent, so I can safely speak for all of the tennis world in saying that all we want is more of her, more often. We want to see her healthy, happy and on the court. A lot more freeway driving, less starting and stopping.
Andreeva is the one to watch
This is not going out on a limb at all, but we’re all waiting for that jump from the tournament’s 14 seed, Mirra Andreeva. With her tennis IQ, as she grows and becomes more physically imposing, it wouldn’t be a shock for anyone to see her in a Grand Slam final in the next 18 months.
