Monday at Melbourne Park began with Talia Gibson recovering from a set down to score her first Grand Slam main-draw win, and ended with Destanee Aiava doing the same, after trailing by a set and 5-2.
In between, a further seven Australians progressed to bring the host nation’s second-round representation to nine.
We recap a banner day for Aussie tennis at AO 2025.
Gibson scores maiden victory
Gibson’s maiden victory against a top-100 opponent in world No.94 Zeynep Sonmez saw her prevail 3-6 7-6(5) 6-1.
Gibson, the first Aussie through to the second round at AO 2025, said she was extremely excited to score her first main-draw win at her home Slam.
“Super grateful to Tennis Australia [for the opportunity to play main draw] and very happy with what I was able to bring to the court today,” she said.
The Aussie has improved her game immensely since her last AO main-draw appearance two years ago. The 20-year-old finished 2024 on a high, winning three Pro Tour titles in the space of a month.
“I think I have certainly made a lot of huge developments in lots of different parts of my game,” said Gibson, who next faced 11th seed Paula Badosa.
“I think the last couple of months definitely got a lot of confidence from how I was doing in some tournaments.”
Tomljanovic returns with a win
Ajla Tomljanovic advanced to the second round after recording her biggest win in seven months.
She beat world No.52 Ashlyn Krueger 6-4 4-6 6-4 in two hours and 22 minutes – the highest-ranked opponent she has ousted since world No.36 Anastasia Potapova at the Rothesay Classic semifinal in Birmingham last June.
The world No.114 avenged last week’s loss to the American in Adelaide International qualifying, where she fell in straight sets.
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“Having lost to her last week, it felt sweet to play her again and get another chance,” Tomljanovic said. “I didn’t want to go 0-2 against a good player like her, but still, I don’t like seeing a big gap when I play certain players.”
Wildcard Tomljanovic, who returns to the second at Melbourne Park for the second straight year, will next play 12th seed Diana Shnaider as she aims to reach the third round for the first time.
Jameses McCabe & Duckworth advance
This wasn’t just his first win at a Grand Slam – this was James McCabe’s first win on the ATP tour.
The 21-year-old was all smiles after emerging victorious against talented young Spanish qualifier, Martin Landaluce, 6-4 6-3 6-4.
“Just really happy to get through it. I’ve lost three or four in a row so just to get that monkey off my shoulder and getting all the experience on the bigger stages against the bigger players, you can’t really prepare for that, you just gotta go through it. Hopefully I can keep going,” McCabe said.
Next facing American, Alex Michelsen in the second round – an upset winner over 11th seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas – McCabe hopes to go one better against the player who narrowly beat him in four sets last year.
BRAIN OVER BRAWN: Michelsen credits mentality for first big AO upset
The Aussie also had an unlikely hype man in rugby star Sonny Bill Williams in his corner, who McCabe turned to for advice during the match. “I’ve known Sonny ever since I was a kid, we’re really close,” he explained.
First tour-level win for James McCabe and @SonnyBWilliams loves it ❤️
McCabe wins in straight sets 6-4 6-3 6-4 to make it through to the AO second round for the first time.@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/dXGtLulKZv
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 13, 2025
“Sonny’s like a brother to me. Being at the top of rugby he has a lot of experience with pressure and everything that comes with it. I’m grateful for his words of wisdom out there.”
Earlier on Monday, James Duckworth broke a five-match losing streak at Grand Slams, defeating Swiss Dominic Stricker 6-2 6-4 6-2 in just over an hour and a half.
Setting a fifth appearance in a second round at Melbourne Park, the 32-year-old says the wins get sweeter with age.
“As you get older you appreciate how difficult it is and how strong the game of tennis is worldwide and how hard it is to win those matches, so you develop a greater appreciation for winning matches at Grand Slams, for sure.”
Kokkinakis, Vukic & Schoolkate battle through
Thanasi Kokkinakis has battled through another injury to win his Australian Open first-round clash against Russia’s Roman Safiullin.
The Australian fan favourite came into the tournament under an injury cloud after withdrawing from the Adelaide International with a shoulder complaint and the Brisbane International with a hip injury.
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This time, Kokkinakis was troubled by a thigh issue which left him barely able to run, but he still managed to win 3-6 6-3 6-3 7-6(5) to set up a second-round meeting with Brit Jack Draper.
Kokkinakis led 5-2 in the second when he called for the physio then left the court for further treatment. Regularly wincing in pain in the fourth set, the world No.71 showed his grit, saving an incredible 18 break points from 22 through the match.
