Australian Open 2025 live: De Minaur leads historic Aussie trio, Kyrgios’ crude Sinner sledge
Alex de Minaur is leading an historic Australian assault on their home Open in a four-decade first, while warming up with a win over a title favourite. Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios’ feud with world No.1 Jannik Sinner is threatening to boil over.
Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
For the first time in 43 years, three Australian men have been seeded for the Melbourne Park grand slam.
Alex de Minaur (8), Alexei Popyrin (25) and Jordan Thompson (27) have all been included amongst the 32 seeds.
That means none of them will face another seed until at last the third round.
For de Minaur, he won’t have to face any of the seven big guns ranked ahead of him until at least the quarter-finals.
As expected, Italy’s Jannik Sinner was the top men’s seed, ahead of Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz of Spain.
Aryna Sabalenka, who has won the last two Australian Opens, was the top seed in the women’s draw ahead of Poland’s Iga Swiatek.
There were no Australian women listed as seeds.
The main draw for the singles will take place at Melbourne Park on Thursday.
The last time three local men were seeded for the Australian Open was in 1982 when Paul McNamee made the semis, Phil Dent the fourth round and Mark Edmondson the first round.
Edmondson was the last Australian man to win the singles title after his success in 1976.
KOKKINAKIS FIRES THROUGH QUARTERS
by Daniel Renfrey
Dreams of a second Adelaide International title are intact for hometown hero Thanasi Kokkinakis after an epic round of 16 win over world No. 39 Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Wednesday night.
The 28-year-old world No. 77 hit a huge 23 aces and found just enough joy against a deadly Etcheverry serve to see out the match with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 win at Memorial Drive and book a spot in the quarter finals.
It was a tug of war first set for Kokkinakis, who battled on and against serve to start the match but eventually broke his opponent through powerful groundstroke rallies to claim the set in the 12th game.
Etcheverry then piled on the pressure in the second, maintaining a high level of play on service to keep the Adelaide native guessing before breaking him in the ninth game and seeing the set out in the 10th.
The third set saw much of the same from both competitors, each player unable to make any inroads against deadly serving, but it would be Kokkinakis who would eventually find the breakthrough.
He remained impenetrable on serve and pulled out a number of huge backhand and forehand winners during what was a nail biting tiebreaker to grab the win.
Kokkinakis will meet American Sebastian Korda, the tournament’s second seed, in the quarter finals on Thursday night.
DEMON WARMS UP WITH BIG WIN
by Samantha Landy
Alex de Minaur has made a statement leading into the Australian Open, downing four-time grand slam champion Carlos Alcaraz in a gripping charity match.
Australia’s world No.8 outlasted his Spanish opponent 7-5, 4-6 (10-5) in a Rod Laver Arena showdown that lasted two hours and four minutes.
While the match was an unofficial encounter played four days before the main event kicks off, both players brought their A-game in a see-sawing contest in which de Minaur continued his recent stellar run of form.
“It’s exciting to be back here on Rod Laver Arena, in front of you guys, so I tried to do my best,” the 25-year-old said post-match.
“I’m very excited for what’s coming in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully we both can play some great tennis.”
De Minaur came into the match having leapfrogged Andrey Rublev in the world rankings thanks to a red-hot run at the United Cup in Sydney. He lost just eight games for the entire tournament – the fewest of any male.
At the Australian Open, he’ll be aiming to become the first Aussie since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005 to make the men’s final, while world no.3 Alcaraz will be looking to add an Australian Open to his set of grand slams, which includes two Wimbledon titles plus French and US Open wins.
Hewitt sat court-side throughout the charity match, as de Minaur overcame a sluggish start to recover from 1-4 down and claim the first set 7-5 right on the one-hour mark.
He told the vocal Rod Laver crowd at the beginning of the match: “I’ve got my running shoes on”. And they served him well, with the speed demon regularly chasing down Alcaraz groundstrokes to win epic rallies and gain just enough ascendency over his powerful opponent.
The second set remained on serve until Alcaraz broke in the final game to win it 6-4.
The break came after de Minaur gave up seven break points in his final two service games.
He saved five of them - two with his fastest serves of the match, both clocking 211km/h – but eventually surrendered, sending the game to a 10-point tie-break in place of a third set.
De Minaur never looked like being headed in the tie-break, racing to a 9-2 lead before a few wobbles – including a failed tweener that slammed into the net and a double fault. A cross-court winner down the line sealed the tie-breaker for the Aussie at 10-5.
Alcaraz powered down seven aces to de Minaur’s five, with both players regularly exceeding 200km/h in the skillful contest.
The Spaniard said post-match: “I love playing these kinds of matches against these kinds of players. It was a great warm up.”
It was the second contest in a double-header on Rod Laver, following Qinwen Zheng’s two-set defeat of Elina Svitolina. Four nights of charity matches will be played from Tuesday to Friday this week, as part of AO Opening Week, presented by the Herald Sun, with proceeds going to children’s charities via the Australian Tennis Foundation. Tickets
RINKY FIRES AT ADELAIDE
by Daniel Renfrey
Adelaide International ‘lucky loser’ Rinky Hijikata has secured an unlikely quarter final berth with a gruelling three-set upset win during an otherwise disappointing day session for Australia’s top tennis talent.
The world No. 79 out of Sydney, who made the main draw of the tournament off of a loss, followed up his Round of 32 win over David Goffin with a gutsy 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) win over American world No. 37 Brandon Nakashima on Wednesday, an opponent he had previously not beaten.
Hijikata, who took the first set convincingly before dropping the second, showed plenty of fire and emotion during the deciding third set tie-breaker at Memorial Drive, digging deep to force Nakashima errors and claim the victory off of a backhand winner.
“I’m pretty pumped to get through that one,” the 23-year-old said.
“He was pretty off in the first set but started serving really well from then and I never really had a look-in on his serve during the second and third sets.
“I just wanted to keep taking care of my own service points deep in that third set and during the tie-breaker and hopefully get a couple chances on his serve which I could take advantage of.
“I feel like I’m playing with house money a bit after getting through to the main draw on a loss but I feel there’s nothing really to lose and I’m having a lot of fun out there.”
Hijikata’s win sets up a quarter final matchup with the tournament’s top seed, world No.12 American Tommy Paul who defeated Frenchman Manuel Guinard 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in his round of 16 clash.
He said he was eager to test himself in a quarter final ahead of the Australian Open regardless of opponent.
“I’m really excited,” he said.
“I just want to keep getting some work in, keep getting some match play in and improving my game before Melbourne, that’s the main priority.”
Hijikata’s countrymen, Chris O’Connell and Adelaide local Li Tu, were not so successful during Wednesday’s day session.
O’Connell fought valiantly in the first set against Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic but ultimately lost 6-7, 2-6, while Tu suffered a 3-6, 3-6 straight sets defeat to Benjamin Bonzi.
INGLIS’ DREAM RETURN BECKONS
Australian journeywoman Maddison Inglis is one win away from a “dream” return to grand slam tennis after she came back to upset a seeded opponent in qualifying on Wednesday.
Inglis, 26, pushed past Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to book a clash against Argentinian Julia Riera for one of the 16 qualifier spots in the Australian Open.
The West Australian was the first local player to navigate the 30C heat and win through to the final round as teenager Taylah Preston and men’s singles hopeful Dane Sweeny were both sent packing after winning their opening matches on Tuesday.
Inglis reached the Australian Open third round in 2022 and qualified for Wimbledon months later, but faded out of public consciousness in the three years since after failing to secure another grand slam berth.
MEDVEDEV MYSTERY SOLVED
The mystery behind Daniil Medvedev’s absence from the Australian Open warm-up events has finally been revealed.
The three-time Australian Open finalist and his wife have just celebrated the birth of their second child.
Medvedev posted a picture on his Instagram account proudly showing off his newborn baby, alongside his two-year-old daughter Alisia, and the cheery caption “Happy 2025️”
Runner-up at Melbourne Park in 2021, 2022 and 2024, the Russian will be seeded fifth for the first grand slam of the year but his form is a mystery because he’s been missing in action from the lead-up events. Now, everyone knows why.
KYRGIOS REIGNITES SINNER FEUD WITH CRUDE SLEDGE
Nick Kyrgios has taken another massive swipe at tennis officials over their treatment of anti-doping cases, questioning why he was being tested.
In a social media post on X, which he has since deleted, Kyrgios said he had just undergone his fourth random test in two months, adding photos of the test papers and a urine sample. Kyrgios has been publicly critical of tennis officialdom after Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek both tested positive to banned substances but were cleared to resume playing.
Both have denied any wrongdoing.
Kyrgios did not mention any players in his latest social media rant but did imply that he thinks tests are a waste of time.
“Ahhhh I got randomly drug tested again today. That’s about four times in the last two months. Blood as well. Absolutely pointless as even if you test positive you can play anyway,” he wrote.
In a separate post, Kyrgios doubled down on his feud with the world No.1 Sinner over their relationships with Russian star Anna Kalinskaya.
The pair have both dated the glamorous WTA star.
But the Australian cleared that up on X, along with a crude sledge.
“Hahaha of course – sweep sweep sweep, how is this now my fault? I couldn’t care less where sinner lays his wood,” Kygios wrote.
“I’m in a happy relationship.”
OSAKA SPLITS FROM RAPPER BOYFRIEND
Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka has announced she has split from her American rapper boyfriend Cordae.
The couple have been together since 2019 and share a young daughter, Shai. Osaka said that the pair remained friends but were not an item.
“Hi everyone, just wanted to say that Cordae and I are no longer in a relationship,” she posted on Instagram. “No bad blood at all, he’s a great person and an awesome dad.
“Honestly really glad our paths crossed because my daughter is my biggest blessing and I was able to grow a lot from our experiences together.”
Osaka qualified for her first WTA final in three years at the Auckland Classic over the weekend but pulled out with an injury after taking the opening set. She later released a statement confirming she expected to play in Melbourne.
“I’m having an MRI today to assess. I don’t feel that it’s too serious and I still feel very optimistic about AO,” she said.
Originally published as Australian Open 2025 live: De Minaur leads historic Aussie trio, Kyrgios’ crude Sinner sledge
Selectors confirm bombshell Konstas move
Australian selectors have pulled the trigger on a big shift in the batting line-up for Sri Lanka and it’s not good news for Sam Konstas.
Inglis firms for Sri Lanka debut as selectors ponder opener shock
Josh Inglis is firming for a spot in the Australian XI, but selectors are on the verge of a massive call on who makes way - and a big chance at the top of the order. Daniel Cherny has the latest from Galle.