Australian Open 2025 Day 2 Recap


Day 2 in Melbourne is complete, resulting in Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic progressing into round two.

While all three were tested, Djokovic had the trickiest ride, dropping the opening set in his match against wildcard Nishesh Basavareddy before using his physicality to push through 4-6 6-3, 6-4 6-2.

Speaking of physicality, there were also two mid-match retirements as Jerry Shang threw in the towel against Davidovich Fokina and, more notably, 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov packed in when down 5-7 1-2 to lucky loser Francesco Passaro, who had replaced Fabio Foginin at the final hour.

The Bulgarian also retired in Brisbane with the same groin problem. He’s now retired from his last three Grand Slam matches and has done so eight times in 57 slam appearances—not a great record.

There were only two notable losers: Tsitsipas crashed out to Michelsen, and one of last year’s form players, Alejandro Tabilo, came unstuck with Roberto Carballes Baena.

Finally, Tommy Paul averted being added to the above list, having to grind through a four-hour battle against Christopher O’Connell. The 12th seed served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth but had to dig in before taking the decider 7-5.

Full results and select highlights from the day’s play are below.

Day Two 2025 Australian Open Round of 128 Results

Aus Open Dunlop BallsAus Open Dunlop Balls
Winner Loser Scoreline
Jannik Sinner (1) Nicolas Jarry 7-6(2) 7-6(5) 6-1
Tristan Schoolkate (WC) Taro Daniel 6-7(6) 7-6(4) 6-1 6-4
Alex Michelsen Stefanos Tsitsipas (11) 7-5 6-3 2-6 6-4
James McCabe (WC) Martin Landaluce (Q) 6-4 6-3 6-4
Fabian Marozsan Thiago Seyboth-Wild 6-3 6-7(7) 7-5 5-7 7-5
Frances Tiafoe (17) Arthur Rinderknech 7-6(2) 6-3 4-6 6-7(4) 6-3
Novak Djokovic (7) Nishesh Basavareddy (WC) 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-2
Jaime Faria (Q) Pavel Kotov 6-1 6-1 7-5
Benjamin Bonzi David Goffin 6-1 6-2 7-6(7)
Francesco Passaro (LL) Grigor Dimitrov (10) 7-5 2-1 (RET)
Jack Draper (15) Mario Navone 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2
Thanasi Kokkinakis Roman Safiullin 3-6 6-3 6-3 7-6(5)
Aleksandar Vukic Damir Dzhumur 6-7(3) 6-0 3-6 6-3 6-4
Sebastian Korda (22) Lukas Klein (Q) 6-3 0-6 6-3 7-6(6)
Jordan Thompson (27) Dominik Koepfer (Q) 7-6(3) 6-4 4-6 6-3
Nuno Borges Alexandre Muller 6-7(2) 6-3 6-2 7-5
Yoshihito Nishioka Aziz Dougaz (Q) 3-6 6-4 7-6(3) 6-3
Carlos Alcaraz (3) Alexander Shevchenko 6-1 7-5 6-1
Jakub Mensik Nikoloz Basilashvili (Q) 6-1 6-7(3) 6-3 6-3
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Jerry Shang 7-6(1) 5-2 (RET)
Felix Auger-Aliassime (29) Jan Lennard Struff 6-3 6-0 4-6 6-1
Roberto Carballes Baena Alejandro Tabilo (23) 1-6 6-2 6-3 7-6(1)
James Duckworth Dominic Stricker 6-2 6-4 6-2
Tommy Paul (12) Christopher O’Connell 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-7(5) 7-5

Sinner Survives Tough Test

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Jannik Sinner began his title defence with a hard-fought win over Nicolas Jarry in Monday’s first round of the Australian Open.

After a tough battle in the opening two sets, Sinner eventually pulled away for a 7-6(2), 7-6(5), 6-1 victory in Rod Laver Arena.

Jarry had a poor second half of the season after making the Masters 1000 final in Rome, but buoyed by some strong backing of the pro-Chilean crowd, he went through the first two sets without dropping serve or even facing a break point.

However, Sinner is rock solid from the baseline, and he took the first set in a tie-break and held firm in the second-set tie-break, saving two set points on serve before closing it out.

With a comfortable lead, Sinner quickly asserted himself in the third set, breaking early for a 2-0 lead and cruising to victory. He will next face Aussie wild card Tristan Schoolkate, who triumphed over Taro Daniel.

I think today was a very close one because the first sets, they can go both ways. In the third set, when I when I broke him the first time, that gave me a little bit of room to to breathe. He is an incredible player, huge potential, so I’m happy how I handled the very tough situation in the first couple of sets and happy to be in the next round. The crowd and the fans, they give me so much support and it’s very nice to be back here. Obviously, I also like the hard courts here. But let’s see, every year is different, every day is different… We’ll try to improve obviously, I have a couple of things that I can surely do better, but first official match of the year for me, so I’m very happy. Sinner on his opening win.

Michelsen Tops Tsitsipas

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Alex Michelsen pulled off the first major upset of the 2025 Australian Open on Monday, defeating 2023 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

As I noted in my draw preview post, Tsitsipas had a poor 2023, by his standards, and looked in equally poor form at the United Cup.

Michelsen is on the up and played aggressive tennis, keeping Tsitsipas on the backfoot with powerful winners from both sides. 

This marks Michelsen’s first Top 20 win at a major and propels him to a career-high No. 41 in the ATP Rankings.

Tsitsipas has reached the Australian Open semi-finals multiple times and made it to Melbourne’s second week in five of the last six years.

However, he has failed to get past the second round in his past three majors, having fallen in the second round at Wimbledon and the first round at the US Open last year.

He said in the press that he’s a better player than a few years ago, but the standard is much higher now, so his results are poor.

I think he’s living in cloud cuckoo land if he thinks that’s the case; when he came on the scene, he looked like a multi-slam winner if he improved in a few areas, but he hasn’t got much better than his peers.

Look at Alcaraz, for example; he’s making improvements month on month, arriving in Melbourne with a slightly tweaked serve and some racket spec changes. 

What improvements have you seen Tstisipas make in recent years? Ok, he tested pinpoint stance on serve for a tournament or two. Anything else? Outside clay, there’s too big a crop of players who can exploit his game.

Alcaraz Skips Past Shevchenko

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Carlos Alcaraz began his 2025 Australian Open campaign with a confident 6-1, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Alexander Shevchenko.

The 21-year-old arrived in Melbourne with a slightly tweaked service motion and made a strong start, capturing the opener 6-1.

A brief dip in the second set saw him fall 3-5 behind, but he reeled off four straight games to avert any danger. In the third, he was large and in charge, moving the Ukrainian around the court easily to close out the match. Alcaraz will next face Yoshihito Nishioka.

Djokovic Negates Basavareddy

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Novak Djokovic kicked off his campaign under the guidance of coach Andy Murray with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over American wild card Nishesh Basavareddy.

Basavareddy made a strong start in Auckland last week and took full advantage of a lacklustre start from the 10-time champion.

Basavareddy, who entered the main draw as a wildcard, looked unfazed by the big stage inside Rod Laver Arena as he outplayed Djokovic in the opening stages, saving three break points in the first set.

However, the physical toll of going toe-to-toe with the Serbian began to show, and he called for a medical time-out after losing the second set.

From there, Djoker muscled his way to gaining the upper hand, and while the second set still wasn’t his best, by the third, he’d found more rhythm to propel himself in round 2.

He was the better player for a set and a half, he deserved every bit of applause that he got. It was a great performance. These kinds of match-ups are always tricky [and] dangerous. He has nothing to lose in his first match at a Grand Slam. He pleasantly surprised me with all of his shots until the very end, so I wish him all the best for the future. It’s all business now for us, I’m thrilled to have him in my corner. It was a little bit of a strange experience to have him courtside in my box… We played against each other for over 20 years, and it’s great to have him on the same side of the net. He gave me some great advice mid-match. It’s really good we have the opportunity to exchange some feedback and get our coaches to tell us what they see. It’s been a great experience [with Murray], hopefully we don’t stop here. Djokovic on his win.

Other Matches of Note

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In other action, 15th seed Jack Draper came back to defeat Mariano Navone 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a four-hour thriller. 

It’s a surprise as Navone isn’t a strong hardcourt player, but you feel Draper will always struggle in five-setters.

He will next face Thanasi Kokkinakis, who defeated Roman Safiullin 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(5). Both guys aren’t known for their ability to play back-to-back five-setters, so I think Draper will probably come through.

American Sebastian Korda also advanced with a 6-3, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) win over Lukas Klein and will next face Aleksandar Vukic.

While it was overall a good day for the Aussies as Kokkinaksi, Thompson, Vukic, McCabe, Schoolkate and Duckworth all won, Nick Kyrgios was stunned by Jacob Fearnley, losing 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-7(2)

The 23-year-old Briton ranked No. 92 was making his first appearance in Melbourne, and he showed impressive composure, hitting 17 aces and winning 81% of points behind his first serve.

Kyrgios, who I thought played well against Mpetshi Perricard in Brisbane, struggled with an abdominal injury and called for the physio twice in the second set, so his comeback already looks derailed.

Australian Open Day 3 Round of 128 Matches

rod laver arenarod laver arena
  • Marcos Giron vs Yannick Hanfmann
  • Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs Flavio Cobolli (32)
  • Hubert Hurkacz (18) vs Tallon Griekspoor
  • Miomir Kecmanovic vs Dusan Lajovic
  • Matteo Berrettini vs Cameron Norrie
  • Zhizhen Zhang vs Holger Rune (13)
  • Gabriel Diallo vs Luca Nardi
  • Adrian Mannarino vs Karen Khachanov (19)
  • Francisco Cerundolo (31) vs Alexander Bublik
  • Facundo Diaz Acosta vs Zizou Bergs
  • Tristan Boyer (Q) vs Federico Coria
  • Botic van de Zandschulp vs Alex de Minaur (8)
  • Taylor Fritz (4) vs Jenson Brooksby
  • Borna Coric vs Cristian Garin (Q)
  • Francisco Comesana vs Daniel Altmaier
  • Gael Monfils vs Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (30)
  • Ben Shelton (21) vs Brandon Nakashima
  • Pablo Carreno Busta vs Kamil Majchrzak (Q)
  • Roberto Bautista Agut vs Denis Shapovalov
  • Matteo Arnaldi vs Lorenzo Musetti (16)
  • Andrey Rublev (9) vs Joao Fonseca (Q)
  • Lorenzo Sonego vs Stan Wawrinka (WC)
  • Alexei Popyrin (25) vs Corentin Moutet
  • Rinky Hijikata vs Mitchell Krueger (Q)
  • Camilo Ugo Carabelli vs Learner Tien (Q)
  • Kasidit Samrej (WC) vs Daniil Medvedev (5)



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