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2025 Australian Open men’s singles final: Jannik Sinner still rising with his head up high following his 2nd championship win over Alexander Zverev in straight sets

by Sports Benches

After 15 days of fantastic Australian Open Tennis over the last 2-3 weeks, the first grand slam leg of 2025 has just been wrapped up now with the Jannik Sinner (Italy) v Alexander Zverev (Germany) men’s singles championship clash – and once again Sinner is our back-to-back champion in straight sets over Zverev.

First of all, he had a brilliant run at our backyard including another grand slam Final opportunity he couldn’t turn down when Novak Djokovic was unable to stretch his body with the distance following a competitive first set tiebreak the other day during the 1st semi-final. 

Sure Zverev’s performance tonight wasn’t bad at his absolute best like that good start and restart here & there through each set over the best of three hours. 

He simply lost his cool at times unfortunately when it comes to his long runs coupled with a fierce opponent he’s got right in front of him & looks like Sinner won that top package of the prize right there – which is the overall set lead not once, not even twice despite a competitive tiebreak in the second but three times was enough for Sinner to settle the score.

And congratulations to 23-year-old Sinner with his 2nd straight Australian Open men’s title as that Norman Brookes Challenge Cup trophy looks good on him. 

Yes, there were doubts about his condition when he had some illness concerns over the past week but that didn’t distract him still and yet, Sinner continued to let his Tennis rise up to the challenge where he got the benefit of his serves while he didn’t hesitate getting the job done without having to throw his toys in the pram unlike Zverev. That is all we can see from the World No.1 seeded and ranked player who we know will go on to win a whole lot more grand slam championships to come – not just the Aussie & US Open but also other ones too.

That will have to be his next target when the 2nd grand slam arrives at the Roland Garros in Paris, France between late May to early June – something he hasn’t yet won before. And if he can win Wimbledon in July, then he could be the next one to win all four grand slams where Carlos Alcaraz failed & even Zverev with the German’s runner-up finish at the Roland Garros (also to Alcaraz) last year.

Time will tell from today’s version of Roger Federer in none other than Jannik Sinner.

All in all what a summer of sport we have seen for 2024-25 with the best of both sports – Test Cricket & Australian Open Tennis.

It goes from the Aussies regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy off India over the best of five matches including their series finale victory to a mix of feel good moments on-court like Alex De Minaur finally made his first QF appearance on home soil, new names/underdogs being made there & also resurfaced too like Madison Keys’ breakthrough women’s triumph last night over Aryna Sabalenka, and Sinner unstoppable both physically & mentally with his Australian Open men’s title No.2.

Bring on more sport throughout 2025 & there’s always more Tennis with the Men’s Davis Cup yearly competition now back early for the Aussies next weekend in the opening round Qualifiers away from home in Stockholm v host match nation Sweden.

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2025 Australian Open women’s singles final: The eye of the tiger in Aryna Sabalenka with her two-year title run now over at the hands of first-time champion Madison Keys

by Sports Benches

Tonight’s 2025 Australian Open women’s singles Final at Rod Laver Arena saw one incredible contest where the last two remaining players standing in this draw had to battle it out the best of all three sets for the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy.

This time we got a new winner in 29-year-old Madison Keys from the US just eight years following her loss in 2017 US Open Final to her compatriot Sloane Stephenson her second ever attempt on the big dance while the reigning champion’s long two year stranglehold finally came to an unfortunate end from Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) who was forced to relinquish her Australian Open women’s champion status to first time Keys.

The final score was 3-6 to Keys, 6-2 to Sabalenka and 5-7 to Keys after just over two hours of play.

First of all, you can clearly see the disappointment there post-match by Sabalenka who never gave up all along to try and strike towards a three-peat – we know how close she was getting that job done. But again, her poor start and inconsistent serves gave Keys a really good opportunity to strike back and she’s done that with both hands which sums up Sabalenka’s night as second best. 

Having made a name for herself on the hard courts, the time is now for Sabalenka to win the other grand slam tournaments such as the Roland Garros and Wimbledon – the ones she hasn’t yet won so far in her grand slam career. 

There’s the Queen of Clay Court she can beat in Iga Swiatek who is currently a four-time winner, so that’s one. Plus, Wimbledon hasn’t had a consistent championship winner for a while, although the last two different champions are from Czech Republic – Sabalenka to cash in on that next moment as well.

And finally going back to the first time winner, gotta say this was Madison Key’s best career performance to date which is tonight’s women’s singles final match v Aryna Sabalenka at Rod Laver Arena. 

Love her brilliant start with the first set win while she lost her way at times when Sabablenka crawled her way back from rock bottom that sets up a 3rd and final set finish shootout. And yet, Keys did not hold back as long as she’s able to reach Championship Point before she’s finally relieved to call herself a grand slam championship winner for the first time.

What’s next? Make every next game her big game and who knows if Madison Keys can be a 2 x grand slam champion once again?

On home soil would be nice with the next US Open a long while away in late August-early September as Sabalenka is also the reigning champ there. Other than that, winning Roland Garros in Paris wouldn’t be bad and Wimbledon also welcomes first-time winners too, especially in recent years so Keys can join that club herself – no doubt.

14 days done, one night to go with one more match to settle in the men’s singles Final – it’s either Jannik Sinner go back-to-back or Alexander Zverev hoping to join Keys as the next first-time AO champion.

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2025 Australian Open Day 13: Novak Djokovic forced to retire hurt while Jannik Sinner unstoppable v Ben Shelton that sets up a Top 2 seed Men’s Final v Alexander Zverev

by Sports Benches

It’s been a huge men’s semi-final day Friday with one magnificent show to watch just now at night and another that out to be both abruptly heartbreaking earlier in the afternoon but also rewarding too when it comes to that other winner who will now go step one closer for Sunday’s big dance.

This upcoming contest will see the best of the Australian Open Top 2 men’s seeders from this year’s edition as these two players who are still standing will be batting it out for that ultimate prize with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.

It’s No.1 seed & defending champion Jannik Sinner from Italy v 2nd seed German & 3 x grand slam runner-up finalist so far in Alexander Zverev.

Yes, it was heartbreaking to see Novak Djokovic calling it a day retired hurt straight after losing the first set via tiebreak. But at the same time, he had to do what’s best for him and therefore, Zverev deserves to take that opportunity instead of Novak, who had to take care with his body when he wasn’t able to last for throughout this whole afternoon. 

Instead, the 1st semi was done immediately in just under 90 minutes. We wish Novak the best of luck with his recovery as let’s hope he is not done playing just yet where his partnership with coach Andy Murray is one of the best things to happen as of late – surely, this won’t go away until Novak feels like he doesn’t want to play anymore at 37-38.

For now, Zverev deserves a crack in the Final hoping to finally win his first grand slam championship at age 27 – it’s about time and there’s no better place to do it where first time winners were made here at Melbourne Park. Jannik Sinner was a good one when he made himself known to the entire world last year from defeating a veteran like Novak to finish off the tournament as a first-time champion.

Speaking of Jannik, that other other semi-final match at night was more like it who continued to shine left, right and centre whereas Ben Shelton fought back at times like Patrick Mahomes – as if he’s perfectly suited to American Football (NFL) but more as an individual athlete with a trainer closely on his corner than in a team.

At the end of the day though, Sinner always hold out the cards in straight sets with little problem finishing up a piece of craft he’s assembled from scratch. 

And yes, it wasn’t Ben Shelton’s night tonight when he was unable to bounce back from an intense opening set battle that went all the way through to the tiebreak. But he did throw things away however at the same time that led to an easier and more extended lead by the Italian to sign him off as eliminated from the last 4 right there. There’s still more to come from the young 22-year-old American though and if Shelton does play in a Grand Slam Singles’ Final someday, then every one of his biggest games will be his own Super Bowl.

Now bring on back-to-back defending champion Aryna Sabalenka v another American Madison Keys for the women’s singles Final first up on Saturday night.

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2025 Australian Open Day 12: Aryna Sabalenka unstoppable over Paula Badosa with Madison Keys sensational with the hope of going one better for this Saturday’s Final

by Sports Benches

Wow! What a night of women’s semi-final Tennis at Rod Laver Arena that began with Aryna Sabalenka always 100% on fire over her bestie Paula Badosa from Spain in straight sets that booked her yet another chance to get the job done for Saturday’s main eveny – final score was 6-4, 6-2.

Who will be there to stop her though? Now this time her opponent will be American Madison Keys who just won the other semi later on over Poland’s Iga Swiatek, having gone from a set down to a two-set comeback including an unreal finish during the 10-set tiebreak race towards the checkered flag and safe to say that she has done it with so much tears & joy!

Here’s the 2nd semi result as it goes 5-7, 6-1 and 7-6 with 10-8 tiebreaker.

We thought the worst of Aryna could come when she has lost her cool at times from her previous match in the QF the other day v Anastasia Pavlychenkova. But her class is always permanent who fought like a tiger that proved her worth as elite grand slam champion both here (2 x times) as well as also the US for the first time a few months ago.

For Badosa, she’s currently on a roll off the back of her good US Open run in the QF last year and now this year by going one better than the last 8 at Melbourne Park, especially on the hard courts. It’s just wasn’t her night though where Sabalenka proved to be too strong as again, she still has unfinished business with the upcoming grand slams to show that she means business in finals this year.

Looking back at that 2nd terrific semi, Iga also had a good run this time around at Melbourne Park which is better than the previous ones in the past apart from the 2022 semi – also defeated by another American in Danielle Collins before Ash Barty managed to steal the show on home turf during that year. It’s just a shame she has lost it following a brilliant start to her shift and even though she was closer than ever at times towards an AO final, Iga just couldn’t hold on a bit longer there sadly.

And for Keys, this will be her 2nd ever grand slam final since the 2017 US Open where she lost to fellow American Sloane Stephens. Yes, it’s been a long time between drinks but she came from a long, long way. Also, the last time she played in an AO semi final was 10 years ago back in 2015 & she too was also defeated by another American in Serena Williams. 

Now it’s up to her how to end Sabalenka’s long-running dominance and what a way it could be if Madison Keys can finish her 2025 AO campaign off in style with her first ever grand slam win by taking home the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy at the age of 29 – turning 30 soon next month. Sure fans would love to back the underdog over the favourite which is something what sport is all about but we shall find out by 9-10pm Saturday night.

In the meantime, it’s the men’s turn as four will become two on its own before the weekend’s main event blockbuster where champions will be crowned. Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev will have to battle it out in the afternoon – can Novak overcome the sunny skies and make this his possible 11th AO title opportunity or will it be Zverev’s turn this time? 

Also, the reigning champion Jannik Sinner who defeated Alex De Minaur the other day will take on American Ben Shelton during the evening. Are we about to see the best of past and present if Sinner wins once again or will another American be represented this time in the men’s and Ben Shelton could be their answer to possibly take on Novak or even Zverev himself?

It’s all to play for going into Day 13 of 15 at Rod Laver Arena & Melbourne Park.

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2025 Australian Open Day 11: Alex De Minaur has everything to be proud of as his home campaign now over after the QF with Jannik Sinner off to the last 4 in straight sets

by Sports Benches

After a few goes of making playing a few consecutive Round of 16s before being finally able to play in a home QF, Alex De Minaur’s run here at Rod Laver Arena are now over unfortunately tonight at the hands of defending champion Jannik Sinner in straight sets – 6-3, 6-2 and 6-1.

That means the Italian in Sinner will continue his title defense ahead of his next match in the semis this Friday v Ben Shelton from the USA amid illness concerns as of late but he will still want to go all the way with another Finals opportunity up for grabs & the winner of that next match will go on to either take on the winner of that other semi between Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev.

First of all, ‘The Demon’ as we always call it as Alex’s nickname had some brilliant early moments right from the very start.

It’s just a shame he threw things away at times that could’ve mean business to throw the pressure back at Sinner & try to map things out on his own, especially when this opponent here is someone he couldn’t beat over the last few times including the last two Davis Cup Finals yearly tournaments – and yet Sinner got the better execution than him. 

We also wish his fiancé Katie Boulter (Great Britain) was cheering on by his side when his mother Esther was holding the Aussie flag with pride once again. But as Todd Woodbridge said during commentary, she was unable to attend in-person this time around unlike the last two of his matches, as she has a match to prepare on her own over the next few days or at the start of next week. 

I’m sure we are all disappointed to see him being eliminated even with no Katie on his corner. But again, there’s every good moment we can look back from start to finish for Alex at this year’s Australian Open, and the best part about Alex’s 2025 campaign here is that every round of his matches were all played at the RLA.

I mean, a full house with full Aussie support alongside his explosive skillsets of grand slam brilliance that we can all be proud of as Tennis/Sports fans! How good!

Not only that, there’s still more to come from Alex throughout the course of 2025 as well. I see the early round Davis Cup Qualifiers are happening next weekend where Australia will fly over to Sweden as their first opponent away from home. 

What else? Oh the other three grand slams where he made the last few QFs too & sure he will look to play his ever first semi-final there either way – you never know what will come if he does win that next match towards a shot in the Final.

So there you have it, while there’s no Aussies left in either singles draw or even doubles other than the mixed doubles category (an all-Aussie contest btw) – there’s always the two must-match semi-final days across tomorrow night for the women and throughout Friday for the men before all champions will be crowned this weekend.

Here’s the list below:

  • Ayrna Sabalenka v Paula Badosa
  • Madison Keys v Iga Swiatek
  • Novak Djokovic v Alexander Zverev
  • Ben Shelton v Jannik Sinner

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2025 Australian Open Day 9: Alex De Minaur now a first-time Quarter-Finalist on home soil following his straight sets win over American Alex Michelsen

by Sports Benches

The winner of the Alex final 4th Round match last night goes to our own Alex De Minaur over American Alex Michelsen in straight sets 0-6, 6-7 with 5-7 tiebreak and 3-6 at Rod Laver Arena – the place he’s only been playing there through his whole 2025 Australian Open run so far.

For Michelsen, it’s been great seeing the best of him up until this point having made a name himself at only 20 through upset wins over Stefanos Tsitsipas (1R) & Karen Khachanov (3R). Yes, it wasn’t his day when he lacked a couple of areas to tidy up his game but surely there’s a lot more to come from him soon throughout 2025.

Now bring on reigning champion Jannik Sinner from Italy for Wednesday night’s Quarter-Final no matter what happens with the result, especially when Sinner has always been the better player than him with 2 x grand slam championships on hand. Well, he may be the current and future of men’s world tennis but that doesn’t mean ‘The Demon’ can’t do well or at least be at his best, especially when playing in front of his home supporters.

This is what we want for Alex to be on the front foot off the back of his tremendous start last night along with the bull of a fighter like we saw during that intense 2nd stage encounter all the way to that tiebreak & he knows what to do to sign things off when the match goes his way. 

Nothing more, nothing less – that’s all.

Our Aussie support needs him and he needs them to cheer him up, especially if his next opponent will be Sinner as miracles tend to happen too amongst other players so far in this tournament.

Over to you Alex now for his first Australian Open QF tomorrow night thanks to his brilliant form so far at the RLA including a string of recent grand slam Quarter-Final appearances outside of Melbourne Park last season.

In the meantime, what a win and what a night it was last night with his mother Esther in attendance who witnessed so much joy of seeing his son finally able to play in a home QF grand slam for the first time as these are things you love to see. Not only that, here’s some more Katie & Alex together in action where Katie was cheering on once again by his side as a spectator.

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2025 Australian Open Day 8: Ayrna Sabalenka too good over Mirra Andreeva & a heartbreaking end for Jack Draper due to injury with Carlos Alcaraz’s win via walkover

by Sports Benches

Day 8 of the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park so far began with Ayrna Sabalenka being too good for Mirra Andreeva, Coco Gauff sensational from the opening set down to a tremendous 2nd & 3rd set fightback over Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, and Carlos Alcaraz through to the Quarter-Final thanks to Jack Draper’s injury issues when he couldn’t continue following the 2nd set. 

With Sabalenka, we always love having a crowd favourite, especially at the RLA alongside her love of dance moves on TikTok unlike 2022 AO women’s runner-up Danielle Collins, who was knocked out in straight sets by her US compatriot Madison Keys. As said, she was unstoppable and unchallenged from start to finish – that’s all. Now her opponent will be 4 x AO and seasoned Quarter-Finalist in Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

For Andreeva, her record here wasn’t bad while she’s slightly better on clay when playing at the Roland Garros (semi-final where she was def. by Jasmine Paolini) including the Paris Olympics (Silver medal with Diana Shnaider for their unofficial Belarusian & Russian country team in the women’s doubles) last year. Yes, she’s only 17 and has a very bright future ahead but just not her day today at the hands of a AO’s back-to-back defending champion.

Meanwhile, the first of the men’s R16 also began during the day a bit later in the afternoon with Alcaraz and Draper. That first set was top-notch between someone who has won each of the grand slams outside the AO so far and a rising Brit coming off a breakthrough US Open run outside of the Final last year. 

Alcaraz managed to win the first two sets with the second one being too quick. 

But then the match ended right on the spot without seeing the other half distance hoping to see a Jack Draper miracle from behind when the Briton just couldn’t go on due to injury issues. He took some medical time out following the first set before he realised he had to retire hurt after he lost the second by saving it for the best next time. 

Yeah, heartbreaking to see him go following a brilliant run up here until this point every time Jack sees off through a series of five-set contests & nothing else like a straight or four-sets win – such as Argentine Mariano Navone (1R) + two Aussies in Thanasi Kokkinakis (2R) & Aleksandar Vukic (3R). We wish him all the very best with his recovery as he’s got really good potential to dominate in the other grand slam events later this year.

Carlos Alcaraz’s bid to finally win his first AO continues and that may be a bit of a tall order when it comes to his next opponent. Although he has that young age advantage if 22 x championship winner Novak Djokovic wins over Jiří Lehečka tonight & it looks like Novak has Andy Murray by his side as his coach. 

Interesting to see what both veterans has been up to stop these next gen elite youngsters stealing the torch from him as this ain’t over by the 37-year-old himself.

For now, Day 8 continues tonight with Alex De Minaur coming back out tomorrow night to hopefully book his first AO Quarter-Final when he takes on 20-year-old US superstar Alex Michelsen, even though that potential QF opponent may likely to be current champ Jannik Sinner.

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2025 Australian Open Tennis Day 7: Alex De Minaur marches his way into the 4th round for the 4th straight year following his four-set win v Francisco Cerundolo

by Sports Benches

After nearly four hours through the course of this entire afternoon, Alex De Minaur is still in it with the men’s singles race as the lone Aussie standing at the famed RLA thanks to his 3rd round win over Francisco Cerundolo from Argentina in the best of four sets – 7-5, 6-7 (3-7 tie), 3-6 & 3-6.

It’s been a sigh of relief for Alex to get past the Argentine who has been a tough opponent for him at times having lost the opening set.  But boy, he’s been ever so strong & persistent in the long runs, especially when he slapped his thighs as his lucky charm to keep himself moving by covering lots of ground along the way. 

Although not only Alex needs to better get himself ahead early but he would have to finish well as best as he possible can because his next opponent will be a rising wonderkid in town who hails from the US & has been making waves so far at only the age of 20 – his name is Alex Michelsen.

Yes, he may have won against Michelsen twice last year but still he’s a completely different player on another level now.

So yeah, it’s game on between the Demon and another US Tennis wonderkid. 

Whoever wins this next round will be expected to go up against men’s defending champion Jannik Sinner (Italy) unless someone else shockingly eliminates him in the process but we are sure to live with that as we know what was like when De Minaur previously faced the World No.1 many times before with extreme difficulty. 

If he’s going to face the Italian again, then our strong Aussie support would do it to keep him keep on churning in home turf, having supported him well today and they are sure to continue cheering on his brilliant journey all on the one place so far at RLA, and that includes his fiancé & British tennis star Katie Boulter by his side!

Super Saturday continues to live on through the night before the Round of 16 portion starts during midday tomorrow.

Since fellow Briton Emma Raducanu has been blown away real fast by one of the world’s top players in Iga Swiatek who still has a point to prove other than being the Queen of Roland Garros, there’s still a hunch of US players to look out for between now & the 2nd week. There’s like 2023 US Open winner Coco Gauff, Emma Navarro and either one of Madison Keys or the female version of Daniil Medvedev in 2022 AO runner-up Danielle Collins.

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Thoughts on BeIN Sports staying onboard with the weekly Men’s ATP Tour for another three years in Australia and what does it mean for Stan Sport as the home of Grand Slam Tennis alongside Nine

by Sports Benches

Just heard about the BeIN Sports’ renewal of the weekly Men’s ATP Tour rights for another three years going into 2025 but no word about Stan Sport being on their radar at all – not even the WTA Tour as well as the majority Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup rights other than Australian-only games via free-to-air Nine. 

You can say that they are the home of Grand Slam Tennis along with Nine but again, it wouldn’t be sustainable if they have everything Tennis all on the one go – as these things don’t tend to happen anymore these days unlike the long past.

Sure, 10 and Optus may be great examples like A-League/Matildas/Socceroos on 10 as well as Premier League & FA Cup via Optus but they don’t have much other sports rights though.

For example, Sky Sports used to have everything English Domestic Football on top of the UEFA Club competitions and England National Team matches. Now it’s just all of English Domestic Football while everything else is via TNT Sports (Half of Premier League games and UEFA club comp content) and ITV (National team).

You never know what could happen though but at the moment, it seems Stan would want to add things when appropriate as weekly tour Tennis despite tempting wouldn’t work – and not many people would have the time to watch it anyway. So BeIN is your best bet if you want to look at your favourite players every week for now while there’s always free-to-air Nine for everything else too.

Plus, there’s a whole bunch of other sports Stan has to offer throughout the year anyway like Rugby, UEFA soccer, Grand Slam Tennis and Motorsport. With the Motorsport part though, it remains to be seen if IndyCar will come back next year due to the change of domestic rights holder from NBC to FOX. 

Also keep an eye out for the new-look SRO Australia National series that is set to replace SpeedSeries (the one they previously covered back in 2022-23) going into next year, their headline category is the National GT World Challenge equivalent competition. 

They currently have the European GT World Challenge comp as it wouldn’t be a surprise if it ends up on Stan again with some secondary free-to-air content on Nine like it was before with mixed to little success when it comes to SpeedSeries. But I reckon they may as well trust their instincts by going with Seven & 7Plus online (they’re all free-to-view options) since Motorsport Australia would still be involved in some capacity. 

And don’t forget they are currently in talks with Supercars to secure the 2026-30 TV rights contract off Fox Sports (majority) and Seven (secondary with 7 major races live). Sure, there won’t be happy fans out there having to sign up with another subscription provider like we’ve saw with SpeedSeries but at least, Nine could show all Sunday races live with everything exclusive to Stan behind a paywall. 

Not going to make my verdict but if Foxtel can offer the same thing when it comes to all other Sunday only races on Kayo Freebies like they’re currently doing with Netball Australia, that wouldn’t be much of an issue either. Plus, Seven would be heavily committed to cover AFL first (shared with Fox) since it will cost them lots of $$$ to cover every season ahead of the Australian Summer of Cricket (also shared with Fox) amongst weekend Horse Racing.

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2024 US Open Men’s Final: Jannik Sinner secures his 2nd major title over USA’s Taylor Fritz in straight sets in New York

by Sports Benches

The 2024 Grand Slam Tennis season has ended this morning at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York with a thriller US Open men’s Final where one of the next generation superstars & current Australian Open Champ Jannik Sinner (Italy) secured his 2nd major title over USA’s Taylor Fritz in straight sets by 6-3, 6-4 and 7-5.

Hats off to Sinner on an excellent championship-winning performance, who simply couldn’t resist the best of Fritz, as his result goes to reflect these high standards set in today & tomorrow’s elite Tennis world. His opponent there may not been Novak or Alcaraz but it’s still a Final and Sinner was never out of place all along, especially when playing on the hard courts. Sure, there’s some room for improvement when it comes to Roland Garros and Wimbledon. But as said, he’s always good on the hard courts considering his great success at these Aussie and US Open grand slams as well as last year’s Davis Cup triumph for Italy.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t the match Taylor Fritz was hoping for in front of his home fans where he too wasn’t bad against this next generation champ in Sinner. He had some great moments at times that could’ve sparked a huge shift when he was so close to at least winning a set of each one in this US Open Men’s Final. However, he just couldn’t quite find the checkpoint that put him under all sorts of pressure before it was too late off the back of some poor double fault serves, etc. He came back from a long way where he’s been improving throughout the 2024 Grand Slam season with 2 x Quarter-Finals followed by a breakthrough Final on home soil & sure this isn’t going to be the last we’ll see the best of Fritz going into 2025.

Now bring on Davis Cup week starting Tuesday/Wednesday AM our time in Valencia, Spain where our Aussies are set to begin their journey with matches against France & Czech Republic before we finish off the weekend v hosts Spain. 

Let’s hope we can get that November Finals spot booked in on time with our great line-up led by Team Captain Lleyton Hewitt that features Alex De Minaur (depending on his hip), Thanasi Kokkinakis & Alexei Popyrin including our strong doubles arsenal with the likes of Matt Ebden, Jordan Thompson & Max Purcell.

We’ve been in the big dance twice even though the Aussies didn’t win that trophy while seeing Canada and Italy dominate centre stage back in 2022 & 2023 respectively. However, our best crop of men’s players are still trending everywhere with De Minaur always in the last 8 over his last three grand slams; So does Ebden & John Peers who won Olympic gold in Paris last month, and don’t forget Purcell & Thompson yesterday as well in the men’s US Open doubles Final win. 

So lots to look forward with the best of Australian Tennis over the next few months between now and this summer ahead of the next Australian Open at Melbourne Park from mid to late January.

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