Trouble Down Under

We’ve already seen a MAJOR upset to ring in the new year, and top players are already in great form.

As always, there is plenty to discuss, so let’s get into this week’s topics, presented by SuckerPunch! 🥒

New Videos!!

We have another brand new video on our channel this week!

It is a recap of the ENTIRE 2024 season, which was one for the history books.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts!

What Happened Last Week?

The first trophies of the new year were handed out this past week.

In the United Cup, the title showdown came down to the top two nations in the tournament: USA vs Poland. In the end, the US team was too strong. Coco Gauff played some lights out tennis to defeat Iga Swiatek in straight sets 6-4 6-4. In the men’s singles, Taylor Fritz won a thriller over Hubert Hurkacz securing the United Cup title with a 6-4 5-7 7-6 (4) victory.

This is the second United Cup title for the United States in just the third year of the event.

Aryna Sabalenka was expected to make it to finals weekend in Brisbane. The other three, Polina Kudermetova, Reilly Opelka, & Jiri Lehecka… not so much. Kudermetova is a qualifier, Opelka is coming off a long break from the tour, and Lehecka was unseeded this week. 

Sabalenka survived a scare from her younger, more inexperienced opponent, eventually coming out on top 4-6 6-3 6-2.

Lehecka led 4-1 in the first set of the men’s final before Opelka retired due to injury. This is an unfortunate ending to a stellar tournament by the American where he upset the likes of Novak Djokovic & Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard en route to the final.

Kei Nishikori is re-establishing himself on tour, 10 years after he was a top 10 player and making consistently deep runs at the biggest tournaments. A run to the final at the 250 event in Hong Kong this week is a really encouraging start for the season for him. In the final he faced Frenchman Alexandre Muller and Muller got the win in three sets 2-6 6-1 6-3.

In Auckland, Naomi Osaka & Clara Tauson started their seasons on the right foot with runs to the final. Unfortunately, the final was a short affair with Osaka having to retire after the end of the first set, despite winning it 6-4. Naomi seemed to be struggling with a lower back injury. The severity of the injury is still unclear.

Live Ranking Update: The Biggest Movers Of The Week

Brisbane finalist Polina Kudermetova has SOARED up the rankings this week. She began last week at #107 but is now all the way up to #57. She will look to emulate older sister Veronika Kudermetova and become a real force on tour this season.

Both Auckland finalists Naomi Osaka & Clara Tauson made decent moves in the rankings this week. Naomi is up 8 spots and back inside the top 50 at #49. Tauson moved up 9 spots to #41 with the title win.

Kei Nishikori made significant progress in rebuilding his ranking this week, up 32 spots to #72. Fellow Hong Kong finalist Alexandre Muller moved up 11 spots to a new career high at #56.

Reilly Opelka is the biggest mover of all this week, up 122 spots to #171. 

Major Tournament Updates

Week 1 of the 2025 season is officially complete. Here’s what’s in store for week 2:

• ATP/WTA Adelaide - (January 6 - January 11)

• ATP Auckland -  (January 6 - January 11)

• WTA Hobart - (January 6 - January 11)

The WTA Adelaide draw is STACKED with Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro, Daria Kasatkina, and Danielle Collins as the top seeds. Tommy Paul & Sebastian Korda lead the way on the men’s side.

Elsewhere, Ben Shelton is the #1 seed in Auckland & Americans Sloane Stephens, Amanda Anisimova and Sofia Kenin are all in the mix in Hobart.

Watch Out For These Players

Reilly Opelka:

This 27 year-old has what will no doubt be one of the biggest upsets of the year over Novak Djokovic in Brisbane. 

In his post-match interview after that big win, Opelka revealed that the success of his fellow Americans has helped motivate him to return to the tour: “It has been tough. A lot of doubt. I watched Taylor [Fritz], Tommy [Paul], Frances [Tiafoe], Ben [Shelton] on TV do great and that was fun and motivating.”

Opelka was right with those guys talent-wise when they were all younger, so he has the capabilities of becoming a top player.

Reilly did sustain an injury in Brisbane, so his Australian Open participation is up in the air at the moment.

Polina Kudermetova:

The younger Kudermetova has been quietly climbing her way up the ranks, but made some HUGE noise in Brisbane this week.

Polina seems to have carried over the momentum she built towards the end last season when she won her first career WTA main draw match in Seoul and made her first Tour-level semifinal in Mexico.

At just 19 years-old she has the chance to become one of the next big stars of the game.

Off The Court

Krejcikova Out of Aussie Open With Injury:

2024 Wimbledon champ Barbora Krejcikova will not be competing at the Australian Open this year. 

The world no. 10 made the announcement over the weekend, stating that the back injury that she picked up towards the end of last season was still bothering her.

Krejcikova is joined by other WTA players on the withdrawal list including Caroline Wozniacki & Karolina Pliskova.

Rybakina’s Former Coach Rejoins Her Team:

Elena Rybakina announced this week that her former coach Stefan Vukov will once again be a part of her team.

However, shortly after Elena made this announcement, it was also revealed that Vukov has been provisionally suspended by the WTA due to a potential breach of its code of conduct.

The suspension means that Vukov is restricted from entering player-only areas, including practice courts and training areas.

Rybakina has defended her former coach, saying that he “never mistreated [her]”. 

The only thing that seems to be certain is that her new coach Goran Ivanisevic remains on her team along with Vukov.

This is still a developing story and the WTA has stated that they “will not provide further details at this point”.

American Denis Kudla Retires:

Former world no. 53 Denis Kudla has announced his retirement from professional tennis.

Kudla played his final match at the United Cup this weekend, teaming up with Desirae Krawczyk in the mixed doubles match between the US and the Czechs. 

The next morning, the American made the announcement with a heartfelt thank you note to tennis on his Instagram page:

Kudla’s best results came on the grass, with a fourth round showing at Wimbledon in 2015. He also won 9 Challenger level titles and represented Team USA at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. 

What’s The Dill???

Welcome to the What’s The Dill portion of this week’s newsletter, brought to you by SuckerPunch! Every week we will feature the best question(s) asked on our “What’s The Dill” post which can be found under the Community tab on the Courtside Tennis YouTube channel.

This week’s question comes from @Teragon84:

This fan wants to know what our predictions are for the year’s first major, the Australian Open!

This Aussie Open is already shaping up to be one of the most exciting and unpredictable, on both tours.

For the ATP, two of the main favorites, Jannik Sinner & Carlos Alcaraz have yet to take the court in 2025. However, neither of them needed a tune-up event last year either. Sinner is looking for his second consecutive major title, and Alcaraz is seeking his third within the past 6 months.

Other main contenders include Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, & Taylor Fritz.

There are several “dark horses” who all have solid chances of knocking off some of the favorites and opening up the draw.

Alex de Minaur is probably the #1 dark horse pick for a lot of people. The 25 year-old American has been knocking on the door of a first career Grand Slam semifinal, and made the quarterfinals of 3 out of 4 majors in 2024. While he’s never done it in Australia, he will be a top 8 seed in 2025, which could make all the difference.

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Felix Auger-Aliassime, & recent Brisbane champ Jiri Lehecka are other names to look out for over the next couple weeks.

On the WTA side, there is a LONG list of contenders as the tour is largely unpredictable these days.

Two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka is the main favorite to threepeat. Coco Gauff is riding high on confidence, starting the year 5-0, which includes a win over rival Iga Swiatek. Iga has not enjoyed much success at the Australian Open, losing in the third round last season. Elena Rybakina is another big favorite, despite the controversies surrounding her coaching team.

The biggest “dark horse” on the women’s side would be Mirra Andreeva. This 17 year-old has already been playing with the maturity of someone at least 10 years older, and is only getting better. She already has a 500-level semifinal under her belt, and will be a top 16 seed at a major for the first time in her young career.

Other players to watch out for include experienced ones like Jasmine Paolini, Jessica Pegula, Ons Jabeur, & Danielle Collins. 

However, don't count out some of the other young talents in the draw, led by Emma Navarro, Qinwen Zheng, Diana Shnaider, Leylah Fernandez, Amanda Anisimova, & Clara Tauson.

Regardless of who’s hoisting the trophy in a couple week’s time, it should be a really fun tournament to watch, and personally, I can’t wait!

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Highlights Of The Week

Check out some of the highlights from last week’s action!

One Last Thing!

Once again, If you guys want your questions answered in next week’s newsletter check out the post in the Community tab of the Courtside Tennis YouTube channel. You can also email us, drop them in the discord, or leave a comment on our most recent Youtube video. Make sure to put Courtside Digest before the comment so that way we can find it more easily. Thanks!