MELBOURNE: Aryna Sabalenka will begin her quest for a historic third consecutive Australian Open crown when the first Grand Slam of the year begins on Sunday.
The Belarusian world number one headlines the evening session on the main Rod Laver Arena in a potentially tricky encounter with 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens at 7:00 p.m. (0800 GMT).
Men’s second seed Alexander Zverev rounds off the first night against the dangerous Lucas Pouille of France, who made the semifinals at Melbourne Park in 2019 before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China has the honor of playing the first point of the tournament on center court when the fifth seed faces Romania’s 110th-ranked Anca Todoni at 11:30am (0030 GMT).
Sabalenka is aiming to become the first woman since Martina Hingis (1997-99) to win three consecutive Australian Opens.
If she lifts the winner’s Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup again, Sabalenka will join a select group of Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Hingis as the only women to complete a Melbourne three-peat.
“I know that I have the possibility of joining legends by winning three times in a row,” Sabalenka said.
“Hopefully by the end of this tournament I’ll be able to put my name into history.”
The Belarusian won the Brisbane International last week and accepts she is the woman to beat after the best season of her career in 2024, where she also won a maiden US Open.
“I like that feeling. That’s what drives me and helps me to stay motivated because I know that I have a target on my back and I really like to have it,” she said.
Germany’s Zverev, at a career-high number two ranking, has eyes on Jannik Sinner and a first Grand Slam title after losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the final at Roland Garros last year.
“I think everybody knows what I’m chasing,” he said.
“Going into a Grand Slam as the world number two, you have to have the mindset of, I want to win the tournament.”
The 22-year-old Zheng lost to Sabalenka in the Australian Open final a year ago.
But it heralded a breakthrough 2024 during which she beat Swiatek on her way to winning Paris Olympic gold and claimed three WTA titles.
Zheng believes she is closing the gap on Sabalenka, who also beat the Chinese player at the US Open and in front of her home crowd in the final at Wuhan in October.
“I think each time I play against her, the results are getting closer and closer, which is a positive thing,” said Zheng, who did not play any warm-up events before Melbourne.
“I need to have this mentality to be a better player. I’m right now top five, but still far away from my goal.”
Men’s sixth seed Casper Ruud of Norway begins his challenge against Spain’s world number 61 Jaume Munar in the second match on Rod Laver.

DUBAI: Two years ago, a 15-year-old Mirra Andreeva lost the Australian Open junior final to her friend and doubles partner Alina Korneeva.

On the eve of the first Grand Slam of the season, Andreeva returns to the Australian Open ranked 15 in the world on the women’s tour and a popular dark horse tip for the title – or at least a deep run – at Melbourne Park.

The 17-year-old’s rapid ascent in professional tennis includes a semi-final appearance at Roland Garros last June, a maiden title triumph at a WTA 250 event in Romania the following month, and an Olympic silver medal alongside her compatriot Diana Shnaider in women’s doubles at the Paris Games a week later.

Andreeva ended her breakthrough 2024 campaign with a runner-up showing in Ningbo, and looked inconsolable during the trophy ceremony despite her opponent Daria Kasatkina’s best efforts to cheer her up.

“That final was something special,” Andreeva told reporters in Brisbane last week, where she warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the semifinals.

“Honestly, I got emotional because I led 3-0 in the third set, and I lost 6-4. It's never easy to lose the match when you're almost always the one who is up in the score.

“Of course, I got emotional, as well, because for me it was the chance to win my second title.

“It's a learning experience. I just have to accept it. Now when I look at those videos when I'm crying, I just laugh at myself because I couldn't hold it inside.”

2024 was a steep learning curve for Andreeva and she scaled it in impressive fashion.

It comes as no surprise that many of her peers have picked her as one to watch in 2025, with the likes of world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, and Tunisian star Ons Jabeur, naming Andreeva as the player mostly likely to reach a first major final and crack the top 10 this season.

They are goals Andreeva has in fact set for herself as her ceiling of expectations continues to rise.

“I would say that my number one goal would be to claim the top 10, just to secure myself there and of course, I think as every other player on tour, I would like to win some titles,” Andreeva told Arab News on the sidelines of the World Tennis League (WTL) in Abu Dhabi last month.

“I worked very hard in the preseason and I will continue working hard for it. So I’m just hoping that the hard work will pay off and I’ll do everything possible for this.”

Coached by Spanish former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, who joined her team last year, Andreeva admits her preseason training block was “one of the hardest” she’s ever had, but given her promising start to the year in Brisbane, it is already paying dividends.

“I really had a hard time doing all the fitness sessions. As well on the court, it was hard to push myself to practice. So I kind of fought a lot with myself,” she explains.

“But I had my team close to me and they helped me a lot, of course. I cannot say it was fun, but of course it was very useful. You cannot play tennis without having a preseason. That’s just part of my career, my life, I just have to get over it. I have to accept it, I have no other choice. But it was almost fun,” she added with a laugh.

“Every day you’re getting more and more tired. You’re exercising a lot, you have two fitness sessions then you have a long tennis session. So after that you’re tired, you also cannot find yourself a lot of strength and power to push yourself to have the same intensity and the same power on the court. So it kind of goes a bit down.

“I was sad that my level on the court dropped but they said, ‘It’s normal, you do a lot of fitness, so this week, forget about tennis’. I’m like, ‘But I can’t, I’m playing so bad’.

“But we almost never talk seriously, we always joke around. So none of this was really serious. It was hard, but there was no burnout.”

Indeed Andreeva and Martinez are a lighthearted pair. The Russian teenager credits Martinez, who previously worked with ex-world No.1s Garbine Muguruza and Karolina Pliskova, for bringing lots of positivity to the team.

Andreeva has a unique and creative game that relies heavily on improvisation – something Martinez doesn’t seem to mind.

“I think that she brings more fun. I’ve never really been too serious on court,” said Andreeva of her Spanish coach.

“I always did what I wanted, I didn’t really have a plan for any match, I would just go. She was asking me a couple of weeks ago, ‘Okay, you’re playing a set right now, what’s your plan?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know, I’m just going to go and see, I don’t know, I’m going to decide’. And she’s like, ‘Mirra, but you cannot play like this’. And I’m like, ‘But I always play like this’.

“So she’s like, ‘Okay, you’re right, just go’. And that’s how I think she brings more fun, she brings more positivity 100 percent, because before I also tend to be a bit hard on myself, so she’s also helping me to deal with it and it’s just a bit easier like this.”

During the four-day exhibition WTL in Abu Dhabi, Andreeva was on the same team as Sabalenka, and paired up with the world No.1 in doubles on multiple occasions.

The duo have faced off four times on tour so far (Sabalenka leads the head-to-head 3-1) but had never really interacted much off court before teaming up for the WTL.

“It’s good to be in one team and to share the court with her because you can see what she does differently, why she’s on top, why she’s the best player on tour right now,” said Andreeva of the top-ranked Belarusian.

“Of course it’s a good experience for me to also see if there is something different that she does or no.”

Andreeva is not the only professional tennis player in her family. Her older sister Erika, 20, cracked the top 100 last year and is currently ranked 86 in the world.

The siblings squared off in a WTA tournament for the first time in Wuhan end of last season, with Erika beating Mirra in straight sets in the second round.

“It's the greatest thing in the world to share the court with your sister,” says Mirra.  

“Of course I would want it to be in the final or at least closer to the end of the tournament, not in the second round. That match was really hard, especially for me mentally. I think it was hard for both of us but I really struggled, and I think all of us did; our coaches, our parents, everyone.

“So with time and with experience I think we’re going to learn how to deal with all of that. That was the first time and we all knew it was going to be hard.

“But having her around and seeing that she’s improving every day and I just know that she’s working really hard and it’s just nice to see that her hard work is paying off.

“Maybe not all in one time, but day by day she’s dealing with it and she’s improving and I can see her playing great in practices and during the tournament in her matches. When she’s happy, I’m happy.”

Andreeva will begin her Australian Open campaign on Sunday against Czech world No.42 Marie Bouzkova.