Defending champions Jannik Sinner and Madison Keys launch their Australian Open campaigns, with Naomi Osaka and Joao Fonseca also in action.
DEFENDING champions Jannik Sinner and Madison Keys begin their Australian Open title defences on Tuesday.
Italian second seed Sinner, who beat Alexander Zverev in last year’s final, opens his campaign against French world number 93 Hugo Gaston at Rod Laver Arena.
Victory would put him on course to join Novak Djokovic as the only men in the Open era to win three successive Melbourne crowns.
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The chief threat to his dominance is top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who is bidding for a first Australian Open title to complete a career Grand Slam at age 22.
Following his US Open final defeat to Alcaraz, the 24-year-old Sinner vowed to add more variation to his game.
“We worked a lot on trying to make the transition to the net,” Sinner said.
“When you are at the top level, these are the small details that make the difference.”
Also in action are Italian fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti, American eighth seed Ben Shelton, and ninth seed Taylor Fritz.
Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca, tipped by Roger Federer to challenge the Alcaraz-Sinner duopoly, also plays his first-round match.
In the women’s draw, defending champion Madison Keys opens against Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova.
Keys stunned world number one Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s final but did not win another event in 2025.
The 30-year-old American is trying to embrace the pressure of being the holder.
“I’m really trying to just kind of embrace that and take it in and soak it in,” Keys said.
Former world number one Naomi Osaka, the 16th seed, faces Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic in the day’s final match on centre court.
The 28-year-old Japanese player is seeking to recapture the form that brought her Australian Open titles in 2019 and 2021.
Top-10 seeds Elena Rybakina and Belinda Bencic also begin their campaigns on day three. – AFP
