Getty Photographs
First-round motion on the Australian Open wraps up on Tuesday, when Alex de Minaur takes the courtroom in entrance of the house crowd in opposition to Botic van de Zandschulp. Hubert Hurkacz faces acquainted foe Tallon Griekspoor.(18) Hubert Hurkacz vs. Tallon GriekspoorTo say that the head-to-head sequence between Hurkacz and Griekspoor has been aggressive can be a gross understatement. They’ve break up their 4 earlier conferences, with each single one requiring a closing set–together with a decisive tiebreaker on two events. Their most up-to-date encounter got here final February on the indoor exhausting courts of Rotterdam, the place Griekspoor prevailed 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(4). The Dutchman defeated Hurkacz 10-8 in a third-set ‘breaker on the grass of Halle in 2023. Their lone Grand Slam showdown has come on the French Open two years in the past, when Hurkacz obtained the job finished 6-3, 5-7, 6-7(13), 7-6(5), 6-4.
Botic van de Zandschulp vs. (8) Alex de MinaurDe Minaur is the host nation’s greatest hope to make a deep run at Melbourne Park. The eighth-ranked Aussie was stopped within the fourth spherical every of the final three years–as soon as by Jannik Sinner, then by Novak Djokovic, and most not too long ago in a five-setter in opposition to Andrey Rublev. It takes lots to beat De Minaur Down Below, and 2025 guarantees to be no exception. The 25-year-old is coming off the most effective season of his profession through which he compiled a 47-21 report and earned a spot within the Nitto ATP Finals.
Up first for De Minaur is a second contest in opposition to Van de Zandschulp, whom he defeated 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 on the Davis Cup Finals in 2022. Van de Zandschulp can’t be totally discounted; in spite of everything, he shocked Carlos Alcaraz within the U.S. Open second spherical this previous summer time. After all, that type of result’s uncommon–as soon as in a lifetime, most probably. The 84th-ranked Dutchman in any other case struggled in 2024, to the extent that he contemplated retirement following the French Open. Rely on De Minaur caring for enterprise, a lot to the delight of the house crowd.
Choose: De Minaur in 3
