The Daily Serve: All the key moments and highlights of Day 3 from Melbourne Park

Aussie fans have continued to come out for their local heroes, but it’s come at the chagrin of international tennis fans, who have labelled them “disrespectful.”

Things are heating up at Melbourne Park as the Aus Open draw starts to take shape.

Callum Dick runs through the aces, faults and we pick out some of the key moments you may have missed on day 3.

ACES

MAGICAL MONFILS

Gael Monfils has aged like the finest of French wines and what a spectacle he served up against countryman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Tuesday. Monfils, who made his Australian Open debut all the way back in 2005, outworked the world No. 31 despite ‘GMP’ being 17 years his junior. The 38 year old has now won more grand slam matches than any French player in history and is in fantastic form having won his lead-in tournament in Auckland. There can’t be many more popular people at Melbourne Park this month than Monfils.

Debriefing after their five-set thriller 💬

Gael Monfils 🤝 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard#AO2025pic.twitter.com/3WuokREv7n

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 14, 2025

EMINENT EMERSON

What an opportunity for 16 year old Emerson Jones when she played Wimbledon champion and 2023 Australian Open finalist Elena Rybakina on Margaret Court Arena. It was a trial-by-fire for the junior world No. 1 in her grand slam debut against a player that could go on to win the title next week. Forget the score line, that wasn’t important. Jones will glean plenty from her hour on court opposed to one of the best in the business. Her development over the next 12 months will be fascinating to watch.

Emerson Jones came up short in her AO debut. Picture: Mark Stewart

FAULTS

THE PASS-OUT PROBLEM

Last year fans were locked out of Andy Murray’s final match at Melbourne Park due to the pass-out seating system the Australian Open had implemented. Fans were left fuming when they were told Kia Arena was at capacity – that despite hundreds of empty seats clearly visible from their vantage point in the tunnel. The exact same issue has reared its head this year and the fan sentiment has been the same. So if you have been watching on TV wondering why some of the world’s best players are playing in front of half-empty stadiums, there you are.

SOME CLASS, PLEASE

Aussie sports fans are famous across the world for our parochial support but when it comes to tennis it seems we are standing way too far behind the baseline. Already our green and gold support crews are being labelled disrespectful by fans from other countries for our terrible tennis etiquette. The big offender is cheering on faults / double faults from opposition players. It’s standard practice around the world not to cheer on such points, but somewhere, somehow us Aussies missed that memo.

Aussie Open fans have come under fire. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

RACE FOR SPONSORSHIP HEATS UP

As the race for the first grand slam of the year kicks into gear, so-too has the cutthroat battle for off-court earnings.

While the winner of the Australian Open will pocket a cool $3.5m for their troubles this month, the real money in tennis comes from the lucrative sponsorships the world’s top players are constantly fighting over.

Women’s world No.3 Coco Gauff took home an eye-watering $55.6m in 2024 according to Forbes, with just $15.2m of that coming from on-court prize money.

It was the third-largest single-season pay packet in women’s tennis history, behind Naomi Osaka ($92.6m) and Serena Williams ($74.2m).

The 2023 US Open champion Gauff, 20, comfortably cleared her nearest rival Iga Swiatek ($38.5m) for take home pay but the American could have some serious competition this year.

Qinwen Zheng’s incredible 2024 season, which began with a run to the Australian Open final and continued with an Olympic Gold Medal and WTA Finals runner-up, saw her leap into the top three highest-paid female tennis stars, earning just north of $32m last year.

USA's Coco Gauff. Picture: David Gray / AFP

And the Chinese sensation has stolen an early march on her rivals with a trio of fresh sponsorship deals - most notably replacing British star Emma Raducanu as the face of luxury French fashion brand Dior, announced last week.

Zheng also added Audi and Gatorade to her portfolio in the off-season, which already included Nike, McDonald’s and Rolex to name a few.

The 22-year-old became an almost overnight sensation in her home country after claiming Gold in Paris and as the standout tennis player from China, Zheng will have sponsors lining up out the door to put their name alongside hers.

Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz remains the most in-demand tennis star on the planet after pocketing north of $70m in 2024.

According to Forbes, the 21-year-old banked $52m in endorsement deals alone last year from a swollen portfolio that includes Nike, BMW, Rolex, Calvin Klein and Louis Vuitton.

For as long as Novak Djokovic remains in tennis – and likely for long afterwards – he will command serious endorsement attention. Last year he took home $40.4m in sponsorship deals.

Signing ✍️ for the fans after today’s practice session 🎾

🎥©️: @AustralianOpen via Instagram pic.twitter.com/0buiH31mUA

— Carlos Alcaraz Daily (@alcarazdaily) January 14, 2025

But reigning Australian Open champion and world No.1 Jannik Sinner is coming with a bullet.

By now every tennis fan has seen the Italian’s ad for La Roche Posay – “make every day a sunscreen day” has just about become a catch phrase of the Aussie summer.

Sinner’s deal with the skincare giant is one of many within a portfolio that includes Nike, Gucci, Lavazza, San Paolo, Rolex, Alfa Romeo and even Formula One, worth an estimated $25m last year.

That number is sure to soar in 2025 now that the Italian has taken ownership of the world No.1 title. A second-consecutive Australian Open crown would catapult Sinner into a fight with Alcaraz for the most sought-after signature in tennis.

EYES ON THE GROUND

SCHEDULE CHANGE

Eagle-eyed practice court watchers noticed a mouth watering hit up combo with young gun Cruz Hewitt lined up to hit with none other than 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic on Tuesday afternoon. But much to the tennis lovers’ disappointment (and maybe Hewitt himself) he was moved to court 11 where he rallied with frenchman Arthur Fils. For those wondering, Djokovic had a 6-1 head to head record with Cruz’s father Lleyton when the Serbian was rising the tennis ranks. Talk about generational player.

Cruz Hewitt. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

FEARNLEY KEEPS CALM

Scotland’s Jacob Fearnley found a way to silence the usual boisterous crowd at John Cain arena for much of his three-set first-round win over Nick Kyrgios.

But, during a wild third set when Kyrgios flirted with a comeback and energised the crowd, it became everything Fearnley had feared and more.

Rather than be intimidated, though, the 23-year-old loved it. Even if it was so loud at times that he couldn’t hear his coach standing mere metres away.

“I mean, it was amazing. Honestly, it was one of the best experiences of my life I think,” Fearnley said.

Jacob Fearnley took down Nick Kyrgios. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

“It was really cool. Obviously I was extremely nervous. It wasn’t really until I walked out there that I actually was kind of calm.

“I kind of knew that I couldn’t really show any emotion because I felt that the crowd was just going to eat that alive.

“So I was kind of fighting to just stay composed and stay calm and not give them anything.

“It was like 3-2 in the third set where it really changed. It got so loud in there. It was tough, because I couldn’t even hear my coach, I couldn’t hear anything.

“Especially in between first and second serves, it was quite difficult, to be honest.”

NO SALMON AND RICE PRE-MATCH

Fresh off American Frances Tiafoe’s hilarious post-match press conference where he revealed he vomited up his pre-match chicken and rice meal, Brit Emma Raducanu said she waits until post-match for her main meals. Raducanu said she stuck to berries and a coffee and then some toast before her first round win on Tuesday morning with Tiafoe’s exploits clearly a talking point.

“I couldn’t stomach some rice and salmon (before a day match),” she said.

“I’ll be sure after this to get my salmon and take in for the day (smiling).”

Frances Tiafoe lets it all go

HABIB’S JOURNEY GRABS AFL STAR

- Peter Rolfe

Melbourne footballer Christian Salem has gone from AFL star to tennis tragic.

The Demons defender has been juggling pre-season training with a passion for the Australian Open, particularly a unique storyline etched by trailblazing Lebanese qualifier Hady Habib.

Habib this week became the first player from war-torn Lebanon to win a Grand Slam match. It came after the World No. 219 won three qualifying matches in Melbourne to become the first man to represent his nation in a major singles tournament.

Salem, whio has Lebanese heritage, met Habib on Tuesday and told the Herald Sun he would proudly be courtside to cheer his second round match against French 14th seed Ugo Humbert on Wednesday.

“He’s been on his journey and he’s 26 now so he’s been around for a minute,’’ he said.

“Just to see him go through the quallies and get through into the main draw shows resilience and it’s a proud moment because it’s a proud country and everybody is jumping behind him, which is great.’

Originally published as The Daily Serve: All the key moments and highlights of Day 3 from Melbourne Park