Tournament boundaries: where our tennis players start the new season
The new ATP and WTA season starts at the end of December. Let's find out where Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov will play, where our women's tennis stars will start the 2025th year and where the most representative lineup will gather before the Australian Open. The first Grand Slam tournament starts already on January 12, so there is not much time left for preparation. More details - in the material of "Izvestia".
The right choice
For Andrey Rublev, the season didn't seem to end. After his defeat to Kasper Ruud in mid-November, the Russian said he would try different rackets in the off-season.
- I want to change a lot of things in them, we'll see. In general, I plan big changes in preparation. I'm looking forward to it, I wonder what will come out of it, and I'll rest for a week," said the 27-year-old tennis player at the press conference after the final ATP tournament
Indeed, already in late November Rublev started training, and the first exhibition tournament was held in early December in London. At the final round of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown, Andrey lost to Gael Monfils and Thanasi Kokkinakis and failed to make the playoffs. Last week Andrey won the exhibition team World Tennis League in Abu Dhabi. The Russian was one of the heroes of the final, taking a set with Denis Shapovalov (6-2 win over Jordan Thompson and Samit Nagal) and defeating Nagal (6-1) in the final mini-match.
- I play tennis at exhibition tournaments to perform at the majors at the highest level - Rublev noted after his success in Abu Dhabi. - But winning finals is always a good feeling. I did my best, tried my best, and we managed to win, and that's the most important thing (in addition to Rublev and Shapovalov, Elena Rybakina and Caroline Garcia played for the Falcons).
From the UAE, Rublev headed to Macau, where he won another exhibition tournament. In China, Rublev's partners were Kei Nishikori and Karolina Mukhova, and the team was led by Roland Garros-1989 champion Michael Chang. On the first day Andrey was stronger than Shang Juncheng (6:3, 6:4), and on the second day he defeated Ruud (6:4, 7:5). The match with the Norwegian was the last rehearsal before the start of the new season.
As early as December 31 or January 1, Andrey will begin his title defense in Hong Kong (December 30 - January 5). At the beginning of 2024 he preferred Hong Kong to Brisbane and did not lose. Then he beat Briton Liam Broady, eighth seed Artur Fiss and wildcard winner Shang Juncheng. The Chinese representative became the tournament's opener, passing three strong opponents: Laszlo Jare, Botica van de Zandshulp and Francis Tiafoe. He also gave Rublev a real fight. He took the first set and fought back desperately in the second and third games. But having adapted to his opponent, Andrey outplayed the tennis player who before the tournament was at the end of the second hundred ATP rankings (he finished the year in the top 50). In the final Rublev defeated Finn Emil Ruusuvuori, having pressed his opponent in the end of both games.
This year Andrei's opponents will be Lorenzo Musetti, Karen Khachanov, Fis, Shang Juncheng, Nuno Borges, Brandon Nakashima. Pavel Kotov, who last year lost in the quarterfinals to Ruusuvuori, is also likely to appear.
The main intrigue of the parallel tournament in Brisbane will be the return of Nick Kyrios. The scandalous Australian will play not only singles but also doubles with the legendary Novak Djokovic (incidentally, Rublev and Khachanov will be paired in Hong Kong). The Brisbane tournament will be the first for the Wimbledon 2022 finalist in a long time. Nick played just one match in June 2023 due to knee and wrist problems over the past two seasons. In addition to Kyrios and Djokovic, Tiafoe, Sebastian Korda, Alexey Popyrin, Grigor Dimitrov and Holger Rune are also set to play in Australia. The latter two played for the title last year, and the Bulgarian was stronger in two sets. And then had one of the best seasons of his career (finished in the top 10).
In the second week of January, the tournaments in Adelaide and Auckland (January 6-11) will start. Tommy Paul, Musetti, Kokkinakis, Korda, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Thomas Mahach and last year's winner Jiri Legecka have confirmed their participation in the Australian event (Rublev took the title here in 2020). In New Zealand we will see reigning champion Alejandro Tabilo, Ben Shelton, Cameron Norrie, Monfils, Sebastian Baez, Francisco Cerundolo, Giovanni Mpetshi Perrikar and Flavio Cobolli.
Daniil Medvedev, like many other elite players, will start the season immediately with the Australian Open, which starts very early this year - already on January 12.
Four top Russian women in Adelaide
Women, in addition to the United Cup (national team competitions, points for which go to the ATP and WTA rankings), will play four tournaments before the Australian Open-2025. In Brisbane (December 29-January 5), Turkey's 88th ranked player Zeynep Senmez is seeded number one and will face Russia's Ekaterina Makarova (born in 1996) in the first round. Also from our team in Australia will be Polina Kudermetova, who can play with Senmez already in the second round. In Auckland (December 30 - January 5) the lineup will be more representative. Erika Andreeva, Madison Keys, Eliza Mertens, Amanda Anisimova, Emma Radukanu and Naomi Osaka will begin their season in New Zealand.
In the second week, the WTA tournaments will be held in Harbin and Adelaide. In the 2024 season, Jelena Ostapenko celebrated victory in Adelaide, defeating Daria Kasatkina (6-3, 6-2) in the final. The Russian lost her second consecutive final in Australia's fifth largest city - in 2023 Daria lost to Belinda Bencic. In 2025 it will not be easy to reach the final. In Adelaide, there are five top-10 players: Jasmine Paolini (world No. 4), Jessica Pegula (No. 7), Emma Navarro (No. 8), Kasatkina (No. 9) and Barbora Krejcikova. Also included in the entry are three more Russian representatives: Diana Schneider (13), Anna Kalinskaya (14) and Mirra Andreeva (16). Wimbledon-2023 champion Markéta Vondroušová will play on a protected ranking, while Ons Jaber received a wild card.
Interestingly, Navarro chose Adelaide over Hobart, where she won the first (and so far only) trophy of her career in 2024. Then in the final, Emma won in three sets against Elise Mertens and made her top-30 debut. Then there were the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the semifinals of the US Open, as well as the semifinals of the Canadian Open. This year, the daughter of billionaire Ben Navarro has a lot of points to defend. Will she be able to repeat Pegula's path and establish herself in the top 10?
