The first week of the 2025 tennis season is in the books, so let’s quickly look at the most important things that happened this week.
Novak Djokovic Still Not Dominant
It’s the new year, but Novak Djokovic still failed to dominate in the first few matches he played down under.
The Serbian played doubles with Nick Kyrgios and won one match, losing the other. While he showed some promise in those matches, it was evident that he was nowhere near his best.
In the singles, Djokovic won two matches without too many problems, but then ran into a very inspired Reilly Opelka. Despite playing pretty well, Djokovic couldn’t do much against the American, who arguably played one of his best matches ever. Opelka served amazingly well and hit the forehand like prime Roger Federer.
While not dominant, it was still a solid start for Djokovic, who has some miles to go before he can confidently challenge for the major trophies in 2025. Time is running out to make up those miles though.
USA Wins United Cup
After it became known that the United States team would be headlined by Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz at the 2025 United Cup, they immediately became massive favorites. Last week, they justified that by actually going all the way and winning the United Cup trophy. Both Fritz and Gauff played really well at the event, especially in the final against Poland.
Gauff once again proved that Iga Swiatek is not an unsolvable riddle anymore, beating her again in straight sets. Taylor Fritz continued to dominate the matchup against Hubert Hurkacz to secure the second point for the United States team, which was enough to win the tie.
Gauff was by far the most important player for the United States, the MVP, and it’s a promising sign that the American is set for a massive year. Perhaps an Australian Open trophy to start it off? Time will tell. Check out some early good odds for Australian Open here.
Jiri Lehecka Crowned Brisbane Champion
Jiri Lehecka played an amazing event in Brisbane, making the final by beating some very good players. He actually bested both finalists from last year’s event, Holger Rune in the first round, and then Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-final.
In fairness, he was quite a bit lucky, especially towards the end, as Dimitrov retired from the semi-final though Lehecka was the far better player up until that moment. In the final, he also benefited from a retirement, as Opelka retired only a couple of games in, to the dismay of many who spent money on tickets.
Lehecka also made the doubles final with Jakub Mensik but failed to achieve the rare double as the duo were beaten by Brits Glasspool and Cash in three sets.
Other Champions
There were a couple of other finals played this week. In Hong Kong, Kei Nishikori played throwback tennis but despite starting strong in the final against Alexandre Muller, the Japanese player was beaten in three sets.
Fellow Japanese Naomi Osaka also suffered heartbreak as she made the Auckland final, and despite taking the opening set 6-4 against Clara Tauson, she was forced to retire after that set.
Aryna Sabalenka made the Brisbane final and won it by beating Polina Kudermetova in the final in three sets. Khachanov and Rublev made the Hong Kong doubles final but were beaten by Arends and Johnson.
Off the Courts
Racquet-gate
British tennis player Olivia Nicholls called out Jetstar Airways publicly on social media for messing up her racquets again. She complained that she paid 160 Australian dollars for her bags, only for them to be completely battered, with the racquets inside suffering damage as well.
The player was backed by lots of fans who were dismayed to see the state of the racquets which, as many of you might know, are not cheap and don’t grow on trees.
This is unacceptable @JetstarAirways. 160AUD to check in because I’m not allowed to take it as carry on, and you deliver my bag like this? How is this possible. My bag and rackets are totally destroyed ? pic.twitter.com/YPMbspGSR5
— Olivia Nicholls (@OliviaNicholls) January 4, 2025
Vukov-gate
The former coach of Elena Rybakina has been officially suspended by the WTA after the organization confirmed in a statement that the Croatian was being investigated for breaking WTA’s code of conduct.
Vukov was in the headlines many times due to a perceived aggressive style of coaching many didn’t favor, but Rybakina for the most part defended him. He was also recently spotted watching her match at the WTA Finals, which many fans found rather bizarre as well.
Betting-gate
Taylor Fritz highlighted once again the sheer amount of abuse tennis players get when they lose a match. He showed a screenshot on social media of his public profile’s inbox with many people writing unimaginably horrible things to him simply because he lost a tennis match.
It’s been an ongoing issue which many tennis players have complained about for years, but it’s not really something that can be policed as easily.
Coming Up
It’s one of those strange weeks in tennis this week, with the Australian Open beginning on Sunday, January 12. There will be a few names in action still – such as Jessica Pegula and Ben Shelton – but the majority will be taking the week off to prepare for the year’s first Grand Slam.
