Sam Bunce
The opening tennis grand slam of the year is entering its closing stages in Melbourne.
It may be the winter in the UK, but the Australian Open is known for its unbearable and oppressive heat most years in January.
The big names take centre stage at the quarter-finals of the men’s singles, with some players making their first appearance at this stage of a major tournament.
Some early exits from the top seeds included Stefanos Tsitsipas who was shocked by in-form American Alex Michelsen
Andrey Rublev was defeated in the first round by Joao Fonseca, the young Brazilian winner of the Next Gen ATP finals in Saudi Arabia in December
Returning from injury, Nick Kyrgios partnered with Novak Djokovic in the doubles at the Brisbane International ahead of the grand slam.
At the Australian Open, the Wimbledon runner-up of 2022 teamed up with compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis but could not find a way to reach the second round, and the same went for his efforts in the singles.
He lost to Jacob Fearnley, who achieved his career highest rank at the start of the year, winning an ATP Challenger title in the doubles at the Nottingham Open in 2023, and in the singles in 2024.
This facilitated his rise up the ranks and built the confidence as another Brit to enter the wider ATP scene. Fearnley has made big strides in Melbourne by reaching the third round.
His tempers flared and spiralled out of control
Last year’s runner-up and fifth seed, Daniil Medvedev, was frustrated by Kasidit Samrej and Learner Tien, but not only frustrated. His tempers flared and spiralled out of control, throwing his racket, repeatedly smacking his racket against a camera on the net, and skipping post-match interviews.
This resulted in more than half of his prize money being deducted as he was fined for the bizarre behaviour he showed on the court. Three defeats in the finals in Australia, and it could be the realisation that, despite his hard-court prowess, he can not seem to get over the line.
38-year-old Gaël Monfils has stunned many tennis fans with his endurance in the opening rounds and also by playing better tennis than in his appearances at other majors in the past.
He defeated US Open finalist Taylor Fritz in the third round and, even though he retired against Ben Shelton, he was striking the ball in the right areas consistently almost without breaking a sweat, and found a way to navigate his inability to cover the court as quickly as he used to.
To me, he’s one of the three most talented guys never to win a major
Seven-time grand slam winner John McEnroe said, “I can’t believe Monfils is playing this well this late in his career. But to me he’s one of the three most talented guys never to win a major. Him, Kyrgios and Zverev, to me, are the three most (talented) and he’s played as if he believes he has a shot.”
The highest seeded British player in the men’s singles, Jack Draper, had three five-set matches in a row before being drawn to face Carlos Alcaraz in Melbourne.
The Brit missed a considerable amount of preparation for the grand slam after recovering from a hip injury. These injuries have been unfavourable and halted his progress over the course of much of his career.
To pose a serious threat to Alcaraz for the duration of the match was a tough ask, and it should not be indicative of his capabilities, and rather the focus should be placed on the promising three wins he picked up in twelve-hours of tennis on the court without much rest between matches at all.
Australian Open Quarter-Finals Preview
Tuesday 21st January:
Tommy Paul (11) vs Alexander Zverev (2)
The American was the winner of Queens in London last year and has been very consistent in his ATP matches in the singles.
He climbed to his highest ranking of his career after advancing to the third round, and he has won both of his two clashes against Zverev, and will certainly put up a fight.
Alexander Zverev played 90 singles matches last year with ATP Masters victories in Rome and Paris in 2024.
It has been a display of polished performances from the six-foot-six German on his route to the last eight, and 2024 has undoubtedly given him the incentive to pursue his first grand slam.
Nocak Djokovic (7) vs Carlos Alcaraz (3)
We were hoping it was going to happen at some point again and now it has, and there is a lot at stake.
The Spaniard is vying for the record of the youngest player to achieve a career grand slam, meaning to win all four majors.
He has seemed the most physically conditioned player of the tournament, and has adjusted elements of his serve before his arrival in Australia to elevate him to a different level, and make him the all-rounded complete package many are starting to associate him to be.
Nuno Borges and Jack Draper were up to standard in various points in their matches against Alcaraz, but were limited to hardly any break points and the latter stages of the matches was where Alcaraz truly thrived.
Draper retiring early in his fourth-round contest is definitely what his opponent Novak Djokovic did not want to happen.
It is the first time in a hard-court grand slam that these two will face one another. But there is plenty of familiarity between the camps after Alcaraz’s triumph at Wimbledon and Djokovic’s Olympic Gold in Paris.
This one will have a different dynamic on hard-court with Djokovic having seasoned tennis veteran Andy Murray in his corner.
The intellectual capacity to overcome Alcaraz may well be there, but executing the plan they may have assembled is a more daunting challenge.
The Serb is hunting down his 25th grand slam and the Australian Open is where he has been the most successful out of the four grand slams.
Yet, Australia has provided some turbulent moments in Djokovic’s career and this year he refused to conduct his customary post-match interview following his fourth-round victory due to comments made by Australian broadcasters directed towards him and Serbian fans.
These remarks angered the Serb as he found the lack of apology equally offensive
A journalist turned towards Serbian fans below him and called Novak ‘overrated’ and sang ‘Novak, kick him out.’ The latter comment could have alluded to when Djokovic was denied entry to play in the country due to his lack of coronavirus vaccination in 2022. These remarks angered the Serb as he found the lack of apology equally offensive.
Djokovic will be fired up after this, and he has improved as the tournament has gone on, but Alcaraz’s intensity may be too much to handle.
Wednesday 22nd January:
Jannik Sinner (1) vs Alex de Minaur (8)
The world number one has not had the most smooth sailing journey to the quarter-finals, being confronted by two tie breaks in the opening two sets of the first round against Nicolas Jarry.
Meanwhile, his fourth-round match against Holger Rune was full of disruption, which hindered the composed and free-flowing style Sinner prefers. The Italian broke the net with one of his serves, which caused a stoppage, and both players needed medical time-outs due to the heat experienced at the Rod Laver Arena.
There were lapses of consistency, but also many moments of fight in a similar fashion to Sinner’s US Open semi-final last year
The defending champion was shaking on the bench by the court and spent more than ten minutes off the court before returning to play. There were lapses of consistency, but also many moments of fight in a similar fashion to Sinner’s US Open semi-final last year.
The remainder of the draw now looks poised for Jannik Sinner to reach the final and continue his supremacy in men’s tennis.
Alex de Minaur has never defeated Sinner in his nine attempts at doing so.
He cruised to victory on home soil against Alex Michelsen in straight sets, and the eighth seed now faces the ultimate opportunity to prove himself.
Ben Shelton (20) vs Lorenzo Sonego (55)
The 22-year-old American has looked athletic and powerful throughout his matches and it is the second time he has reached the quarter-final of the Australian Open. He lost to Tommy Paul in 2022 and seems well-equipped to the nuances of hard-court with a lethal left-handed serve.
Lorenzo Sonego on the other hand makes his first appearance at a quarter-final of a grand slam. The Italian defeated veteran Stan Wawrinka before taking on tennis’ rising stars of 2025 with a five-set win over Brazilian 18-year-old Joao Fonseca in the second round, and defeating Learner Tien at the John Cain Arena.
Sam Bunce
Featured image courtesy of Ben Hershey via Unsplash. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @tennistv via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.?
In article image 2 courtesy of @australianopen via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.?
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