A whopping 12 Aussies are in action on a monster day two at the Australian Open including Nick Kyrgios, while the three top men’s title contenders all begin their campaigns.
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Elsewhere, a red-hot US star who looms as the biggest threat to reigning women’s singles champion Aryna Sabalenka is in action along with Jannik Sinner, who is hoping to put a doping scandal behind him ahead of his own Australian Open title defence.
Follow along for the latest updates from Day 2 at the Australian Open!
AUSSIES HIGHLIGHT BIG DAY AT MELBOURNE PARK
There are plenty of reasons — 12 specifically — to tune into Monday’s action at Melbourne Park, with a dozen Australians looking to progress in the tournament.
First up, Ajla Tomljanović is one of a number of wildcards playing on Day 2, with the Wimbledon and US open quarter-finalist taking on Ashlyn Krueger at 11.30am on Margaret Court Arena.
Funnily enough, it is the second time the pair have played this month, with the American winning in straight sets at the Adelaide International last Saturday.
Jordan Thompson will also be in action on Margaret Court Arena against German qualifier Dominik Koepfer, while there will be a pair of Australians playing on Court 3 from 11am.
Up first is 20-year-old wildcard Talia Gibson, who faces Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez before James Duckworth comes up against Switzerland’s Dominic Stricker.
Elsewhere, two other Australian wildcards will also feature early in the day with James McCabe playing qualifier Martin Landaluce while Perth’s Tristan Schoolkate faces Taro Daniel.
Aleks Vukic is also in action against Damir Dzumhur on Court 13, with that match expected not before 2.30pm.
DAY 1 WRAP: Big name avoids disaster as fan favourite pulls off epic comeback
NIGHT 1 WRAP: All the results and highlights from the first night of action
Kokkinakis unsure of AO fitness | 00:56
There are several big name Australians featured in the later session too, with rising star Maya Joint looking to capitalise on her recent run of form. But she will be up against it, facing American seventh seed Jessica Pegula on John Cain Arena from 5pm.
Nick Kyrgios will follow her in his return to Melbourne Park against Jacob Fearnley.
Kyrgios’ good friend Thanasi Kokkinakis is also in action despite entering the tournament under an injury cloud, facing Roman Safiullin in Kia Arena, while soon after Christopher O’Connell has a tough challenge awaiting him in 12th seed Tommy Paul.
HEARTWARMING ALCARAZ ACT GOES VIRAL
Already a prolific winner on the court, Carlos Alcaraz has been winning off it, too, as he prepares for his Australian Open opener.
The tennis world has been swooning over Alcaraz after a kind act from the Spaniard — who on Monday opens his campaign against Alexander Shevchenko — went viral.
The footage shows Alcaraz as being all-smiles in the bowels of Melbourne Park, and politely displaying his credentials to a security guard who clearly didn’t know he was in the presence of a four-time Grand Slam winner.
Then, as Alcaraz arrives at the door to the locker room, he turns doorman as he waits and holds it open for a worker to wheel a trolley in full of towels.
The humble and courteous display didn’t go unnoticed.
‘CRAZIEST THING I’VE EVER HEARD’
Andy Murray teaming up with Novak Djokovic as his coach continues to raise eyebrows, with tennis elegends John McEnroe and Mats Wilander questioning the partnership ahead of the Serbian’s first round match on Monday.
The recently retired Murray, who is the same age as 37-year-old Djokovic, is coaching the 24-time Grand Slam winner for the first time at the Australian Open.
Murray was announced as Djokovic’s coach in November, surprising the tennis world given their similar ages and experience. And ahead of Djokovic’s first round match against Nishesh Basavareddy, the shock is yet to subside.
“The coaching situation with Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic is fun, but it has got to be the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” McEnroe said on Eurosport.
“There’s a one-week age gap between Novak and Andy and he just stopped playing. My theory is that Murray is going to coach Djokovic for the next couple of months, and then he’s going to find out everything he needs to know about how to beat Djokovic, and then he’s coming back.”
Wilander shared McEnroe’s scepticism, saying it was the “most confusing” appointment of Djokovic’s career.
“He’s worked with (Andre) Agassi, he’s worked with Boris Becker, Goran Ivanisevic, Todd Martin for a little bit,” Wilander said. “I think it is (the boldest decision yet to appoint Murray). It’s the most confusing one anyway.”
FANS GO AFTER KYRGIOS RIVAL
Nick Kyrgios will hope to play first round opponent Jacob Fearnley off the court in the same way he was chased off social media in the build-up to the highly-anticipated match.
Fearnley revealed before Monday night’s match against Kyrgios that he decided to delete Instagram as he was being bombarded by comments from fans of the Australian.
“I was getting a lot of messages,” he said.
“I wanted to try and stay as centred as possible.”
Fearnley is playing just his third Grand Slam and despite Kyrgios long-term injury issues, he knows he’s been dealt one of the hardest first round matches he could’ve asked for.
“It’s not a match you want to see in Australia,” he said.
RED-HOT US STAR THE BIG THREAT TO REIGNING WOMEN’S CHAMP
First up on Rod Laver Arena is a red-hot Coco Gauff, who said on Friday that keeping cool in tough moments was behind a scintillating run of form that has made her a major threat to Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open.
Sabalenka is the world number one and favourite to win a third title in a row in Melbourne.
But the 20-year-old Gauff, ranked three, finished 2024 with a flourish by winning the China Open and the season-ending WTA Tour Finals.
She took that form into this season, winning all her singles matches at the United Cup including beating world number two Iga Swiatek in straight sets to lead the United States to glory.
Gauff faces a potential banana skin against the 2020 Australian Open champion and fellow American Sofia Kenin in the first round.
Djokovic questioned on being “poisoned” | 00:57
WORLD NO.1 LOOKING TO PUT DOPING SCANDAL BEHIND HIM
Later on Rod Laver, Jannik Sinner will try to put a doping scandal behind him when he kicks off his Australian Open defence against Nicolas Jarry.
Italian world number one Sinner is hot favourite after a breakthrough 2024 built on the back of his come-from-behind victory over Daniil Medvedev in last year’s final.
It was his maiden Slam crown and he went on to add the US Open, with his overwhelming dominance illustrated by being more than 4,000 ranking points clear of world number two Alexander Zverev.
He has played Chile’s Jarry twice before, winning their last clash in Beijing in September. But he needed to rally from a set down.
Should he get past Jarry, the top seed could meet Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas or Australian Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 2 ORDER OF PLAY
Show courts and Aussies – all times AEDT
Rod Laver Arena
Day session from 11:30am
No.3 Coco Gauff (USA) vs Sofia Kenin (USA)
Not before 2pm
No.1 Jannik Sinner (ITA) vs Nicolas Jarry (CHI)
Night session from 7pm
No.7 Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs [WC] Nishesh Basavareddy (USA)
Naomi Osaka (JPN) vs Caroline Garcia (FRA)
Margaret Court Arena
Day session from 11:30am
[WC] Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) vs Ashlyn Krueger (USA)
No.27 Jordan Thompson (AUS) vs [Q] Dominik Koepfer (GER)
Night session from 7pm
Alexander Shevchenko (KAZ) vs No.3 Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)
[Q] Daria Snigur (UKR) vs No.10 Danielle Collins (USA)
John Cain Arena
Day session from 11am
No.11 Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs Alex Michelsen (USA)
Not before 1:30pm
Katerina Siniakova (CZE) vs No.2 Iga Swiatek (POL)
Twilight session from 5pm
[WC] Maya Joint (AUS) vs No.7 Jessica Pegula (USA)
Not before 7pm
Jacob Fearnley (GBR) vs Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
Kia Arena
Third match
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) vs Roman Safiullin (RUS)
Christopher O’Connell (AUS) vs No.12 Tommy Paul (USA)
Court 3
From 11am
Zeynep Sonmez (TUR) vs [WC] Talia Gibson (AUS)
James Duckworth (AUS) vs Dominic Stricker (SUI)
Fourth match
Greet Minnen (BEL) vs [Q] Destanee Aiava (AUS)
Court 6
Second match
[WC] James McCabe (AUS) vs [Q] Martin Landaluce (ESP)
Court 7
Third match
[WC] Tristan Schoolkate (AUS) vs Taro Daniel (JPN)
Court 13
Not before 2:30pm
Damir Dzumhur (BIH) vs Aleks Vukic (AUS)
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