By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday January 6, 2025
Coco Gauff went undefeated at United Cup and defeated longtime nemesis Iga Swiatek in the final. Her stock is up ahead of the 2025 Australian Open.
Photo source: Mark Peterson/ Corleve
With ten days of tennis in the books, the 2025 tennis season is about to round the corner and head into the first – and HAPPIEST – Grand Slam of the season. Here’s what we’ve learned from United Cup, Brisbane, WTA Auckland, and Hong Kong.
Women’s tennis Is torrid at the top
United Cup showcased many of the top talents in the women’s game, and two matchups gave us a glimpse into the type of tennis that the sports’ rivalries will produce in 2025. Iga Swiatek battled past Elena Rybakina in a thrilling contest that marked Swiatek’s second win in her last six matches against the Kazakh. It was a big step for the Pole, who looked more comfortable dealing with Rybakina’s pace and depth, and scored a confidence-inspiring victory over a longtime nemesis, on a fast hard court.
Swiatek came up on the losing end of the next titanic women’s singles battle at United Cup, losing to Coco Gauff 6-4 6-4 in a contest that highlighted the progress that Gauff has made in the last six months, dating back to her partnership with coach Matt Daly and the much talked about grip changes that have come with it.
Gauff stood toe-to-toe with Swiatek to score her second win in succession over Swiatek, which is massive given that she lost 11 of her first 12 against the Polish juggernaut.
The message? It could be more hotly contested – and compelling – inside the WTA’s Top 5 this year, as Gauff becomes more of a factor against her rivals, and the Rybakina-Swiatek rivalry enters a new phase. And we haven’t even seen Sabalenka, who we’ll talk more about down the page, face any of the aforementioned yet.
There’s a new serve bot, and an old one, in town
Servebots – you have to love that term, don’t you? – took center stage in Brisbane, as Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard wreaked havoc on the draw, while Reilly Opelka, returning from a prolonged injury hiatus, took out world-beating Novak Djokovic to set up an all servebot semifinal.
Mpetshi Perricard, 21, plowed through Nick Kyrgios, Frances Tiafoe and Jakub Mensik before falling to Opelka in the semis. He’s gonna be a force this year – the player that nobody wants to face. Opelka, who spent nearly two years on the sideline due to wrist and hip injuries, knocked off Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals before defeating Mpetshi Perricard, but he had to pull out of the final against Jiri Lehecka due to a back injury.
Novak’s form? TBD
Novak Djokovic, coached by Andy Murray, who was not present in Brisbane but will be in Melbourne, got three matches under his belt and bowed out to Opelka in the quarterfinals. Was it enough to put the 24-time major champion in form to earn a record 11th Australian Open title later this month? Time will tell.
Djokovic will take his 94-9 overall record to Melbourne, where he’ll meet up with Andy Murray and look to take his game to the next level, a level he will certainly need if he’s to get through a draw that will include defending champion Jannik Sinner and four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Sabalenka holds serve
Speaking of Australian Open champions, Aryna Sabalenka will head to Melbourne with plenty of confidence in two. She claimed the Brisbane title, and has won 27 of her last 28 matches played on Australian soil. Sabalenka is looking for the Aussie Open threepeat, and if she can pull it off she’ll become the first woman to achieve the feat since Martina Hingis in 1999.
Sabalenka dropped just one set in Brisbane and dominated her only Top 20 opponent, 16th-ranked Mirra Andreeva, 6-3, 6-2.
Osaka, Nishikori start strong
A promising start to 2025 for two Japanese icons, as Naomi Osaka reached her first final since returning to the tour from maternity leave and Kei Nishikori reached his first final since 2019 Brisbane.
Osaka bowed out in the Auckland final with an abdominal injury, after taking the opening set from Clara Tauson, while 35-year-old Nishikori fell in three sets to Alexandre Muller. Nevertheless something to build on for both.
Gauff looks like the real deal
Coco Gauff’s 5-0 performance at United Cup featured wins over two Top 20 and four Top 35 opponents, and showcased her evolution as a player. The 20-year-old looks to be parlaying the confidence from winning last year’s WTA Finals title into a torrid start, and her victory over Iga Swiatek in Sunday’s final is the cherry on top of an eye-catching start to 2025.
Gauff is serving better and playing with more authority from the baseline after making changes to her grip under coach Matt Daly. She has what it takes to win more majors in 2025 and appears to be in the perfect headspace to do just that.
Watch out for the Czech men
Strong performances from Jiri Lehecka (Brisbane title), Jakub Mensik (Brisbane quarterfinals) and Tomas Machac (wins over Hurkacz and Cobolli at United Cup, in addition to close losses to Casper Ruud and Taylor Fritz) give us a glimpse into the future of Czech men’s tennis. It looks very bright, and we expect to hear a lot more from all three of the aforementioned in the weeks and months to come.