Australian Open 2025 schedule and draw: Dates, seeds, format and favourites for first Grand Slam of year | Tennis News happymamay

The first Grand Slam of the year takes place at the Australian Open in Melbourne as Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka look to defend their titles.

The season’s major opener is just 12 days into the new year, but there are a number of questions surrounding the fitness of Emma Raducano and Jack Draper, as Andy Murray returns to Melbourne – but this time in the corner of a record-chasing Novak. Djokovic.

The top-ranked players in the world automatically enter the tournament at the main draw stage, with 104 seeded players going directly to the singles draw along with eight wild-card entries and 16 qualifiers.

When is the Australian Open 2025?

The qualifiers for the 2025 Australian Open began on January 6.

The main tournament (individuals) will start on January 12, with the women’s final on January 25, and the men’s final on January 26.

Where will the Australian Open 2025 be held?

The Australian Open is held at Melbourne Park, Melbourne – home of the Grand Slam event since 1988.

Melbourne Park has three exhibition arenas – Rod Laver Arena (the second largest indoor sports venue in Australia with a capacity of 15,000), as well as John Cain Arena (capacity: 10,500) and Margaret Court Arena (capacity: 7,500).

When is the draw for the Australian Open held?

The Australian Open singles draw will take place on Thursday 9 January at 2.30am UK time.

Australian Open match schedule

The tournament takes place daily starting at midnight UK time each day on the outdoor courts and 1am on the exhibition courts. Night sessions will start at 8am for UK viewers.

January 12-14: First round (women and men)
January 15-16: Second round (women and men)
January 17-18: Third round (women and men)
January 19-20: Fourth round (women and men)
January 21-22: Quarter-finals (women’s and men’s)
January 23: Women’s semi-finals
January 24: Men’s semi-finals
January 25: Women’s final (8.30am UK time)
January 26: Men’s final (8.30am UK time)

The Australian Open schedule also includes:

• Men’s and Women’s Doubles: January 14-26
• Mixed doubles: January 16-25
• Wheelchair events: January 21-25
• Junior events: January 18-27

Ranked players at the Australian Open

Women’s singles

1. Aryna Sabalenka
2. Iga Swiatek (POL)
3. Coco Gauff (USA)
4. Yasmine Paolini (ITA)
5. Qinwen Cheng (China)

Men’s singles

1. Jannik Sinner (ITA)
2. Alexander Zverev (Germany)
3. Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
4. Taylor Fritz (USA)
5. Daniil Medvedev

Which British players are competing at the 2025 Australian Open?

There are four British players who have entered the main draw for women’s singles.

Katie Poulter She will be seeded in Melbourne this year after her best season to date, in which she won two WTA titles (San Diego and Nottingham) and reached another final in Hong Kong.

Emma Raducano He has reached the second round in each of the past three seasons and hopes to move on in 2025.

She was forced to withdraw from the ASB Classic in Auckland last week due to a back problem, but hopes to be ready for the Grand Slam after hiring celebrity fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura to help end a string of fitness problems she has suffered since winning the US Open. In 2021…

Sunay Kartal In the main draw for the first time Judy Berg In protected arrangement.

British No. 1 Jack Draper He will lead the men’s singles lineup after reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open, rising to world No. 15.

Draper comes into this year having missed the United Cup team event in Sydney with a hip injury and will play competitively for the first time since losing at the Paris Masters at the end of October.

Cameron Norrie And the rising star Jacob Fearnley Both have direct entry to the main draw.

Will Andy Murray coach Novak Djokovic in Melbourne?

If you haven’t heard the news, Djokovic announced the surprise appointment of his long-time rival and good friend Andy Murray to his coaching staff in late November.

Britain’s Murray, a two-time Wimbledon champion, ended his playing career after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in August.

But the 37-year-old has decided to take up his first coaching role in Djokovic’s team in a remarkable partnership with the Serbian aiming to secure a record 11th Australian Open title and a historic 25th Grand Slam title. Will Murray’s presence be enough to motivate Djokovic to achieve Grand Slam glory?

How much is the Australian Open prize money?

The Australian Open’s total prize money has increased by 11.56 per cent year-on-year, and the individual winners of this year’s tournament will take home a check for A$3.5 million (about £1.74 million).

Full distribution of the financial prize for the year 2025:
Champion: 3,500,000 Australian dollars
Runner-up: 1,900,000 Australian dollars
Semi-finalists: AUD 1,100,000
Quarter-finalists: A$665,000
Fourth round: 420 thousand Australian dollars
Third round: 290 thousand Australian dollars
Second round: A$200,000
First round: A$132,000

Qualification
Third round: $72,000
Second round: $49,000
First round: $35,000

Key stats at Melbourne Park

3 – Aryna Sabalenka will try to win the women’s singles title for the third time in a row at Melbourne Park, something Martina Hingis last achieved in the period from 1997 to 1999.

24 – Number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won by Novak Djokovic, tied with Margaret Court for the most in tennis history. Another one would give Djokovic sole possession of the record.

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TVstreaming service now and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to more than 50 per cent of live sporting events this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.