Australian Open preview: Novak Djokovic tries to get back on top, Aryna Sabalenka goes for third consecutive trophy

The Australian Open starts on Sunday, the first major tournament on the calendar and the unofficial kick-off for the 2025 tennis season. Let the bright sun and electric blue courts of Melbourne take you to the other side of the world, where it is summer instead of the gloomy winter.

Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner will look to defend their 2024 titles, but they will each have stiff competition to claim the 2025 women’s and men’s singles trophies.

Top storylines for men

Novak Djokovic may be the seventh seed, but his previous success in Melbourne cannot be ignored. Now 37, he had a bad year in 2024 and failed to win any Grand Slams for the first time since 2017. All things considered, an “off-year” for Djokovic would be the highlight of other players – in 2024 he won the Olympic gold medal. I had chased his entire career. Armed with new coach Andy Murray (yes, that Andy Murray), Djokovic is now looking to win his 11th career Australian Open trophy and his record 25th Grand Slam.

Jannik Sinner is the defending Aussie Open champion in men’s singles. His 2024 trophy was his first Grand Slam victory, and it was the start of an exciting year that saw him claim the world No. 1 position, win his first US Open, lead Italy to victory in the Davis Cup and reach the ATP Finals won. In 2024, he also tested positive for a banned substance, which he says entered his system through a spray used by his massage therapist. He avoided a suspension after an independent tribunal of the International Tennis Integrity Agency ruled in August that he was not to blame. The Australian Open will be our first chance to see Sinner in 2025 as he has not played yet this year.

World number 3 Carlos Alcaraz will look to regain some glory after his 2024 season roughly ended. Last year he won his first French Open and second Wimbledon, but after that his game took a huge dip. He lost in the first round of the Cincinnati Open and the second round of the US Open, which he won in 2022, and was unable to advance from the group stage at the ATP Finals. He, like Sinner, hasn’t played in 2025 yet, but prepare for him to come out swinging (both literally and figuratively) – the Aussie Open is the only Grand Slam he needs to win to complete the career slam.

American Taylor Fritz made huge progress in 2024. He is now ranked fourth in the world and looked fantastic at the United Cup, where he outwitted Hubert Hurkacz to help the US to victory. We are long past the time when we can question whether his breakout is real. He has shown us that this is so. If Fritz is at the top of his game and everything checks out, he has a real chance of being the first American man to win the Australian Open since Andre Agassi in 2003.

The best storylines for women

Are Aryna Sabalenka world, and we’re all just living in it. After winning the 2023 Australian Open and reaching the US Open final, she started 2024 by winning the Aussie Open again, eventually bringing home the US Open trophy in September. And when former world No. 1 Iga Swiatek struggled uncharacteristically to maintain her high level of play last year, Sabalenka stepped in and started racking up victories. She is now world number 1, and with her previous dominance in Melbourne it seems unlikely she will relinquish it any time soon.

Coco Gauffwho was coming off a disappointing 2024 season, ended the year with a coaching change that has already paid off. Not only did she win the WTA Finals, beating Sabalenka in the semifinals to end the year, she started 2025 with a win over Iga Swiatek and led Team USA to victory in the United Cup. She sees new life in it, and as if to prove it, she was named MVP of the United Cup. Gauff has already won a major and is considered one of women’s tennis’ brightest stars, but if she continues to play like she did at the United Cup, this could be the year she adds more major trophies to her case and fully into the light steps. .

Iga Swaatekthe world number 2, will be in Melbourne with a new coach, trying to reach the late rounds again. She reached the semifinals in 2022, but exited in the third round in 2023 and 2024. She would like to get back on solid ground on hard courts, but, like Sinner, she remains in the shadow of her positive PED test last year.

Gauff is the highest-ranked American woman, but she’s not the only one in the top 10. Jessica Pegula is the No. 7 seed, Emma Navarro is the No. 8 seed, and Danielle Collins is the No. 10 seed.

Men’s top 10 seeds

1. Jannik Sinner

2. Alexander Zverev

3. Carlos Alcaraz

4. Taylor Fritz

5. Daniil Medvedev

6. Casper Ruud

7. Novak Djokovic

8. Alex de Minaur

9. Andrei Rublev

10. Grigor Dimitrov

Women’s top 10 seeds

1. Aryna Sabalenka

2. Iga Swaatek

3. Coco Gauff

4. Jasmine Paolini

5. Qinwen Zheng

6. Elena Rybakina

7. Jessica Pegula

8. Emma Navarro

9. Daria Kasatkina

10. Danielle Collins