Auckland Open top seed Ben Shelton gets his season underway against 19-year-old sensation Jakub Mensik.
Shelton won their only previous encounter, coming from a set down at last year’s Indian Wells Masters.
Ranked 21st after rising as high as No.13 in August, Shelton was somewhat disappointing in the bigger tournaments last year following a breakout 2023.
But he finished 2024 in reasonable shape, making the Swiss Indoors final in late-October.
World No.48 Mensik finished a tremendous 2024 season with a Next Gen ATP Finals appearance and kicked off 2025 with wins over Mikhail Kukushkin and Dusan Lajovic in Brisbane, before losing to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the quarters.
The Czech phenom put away veteran Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2 4-6 7-5 in the first round in Auckland, blasting 18 aces.
This shapes as another absorbing arm-wrestle between two of the tour’s most exciting tyros, who both boast excellent serves.
Shelton’s the $1.70 favourite but it’s too close to call.
Defending champion Jelena Ostapenko squares off against fellow big gun Madison Keys in the Adelaide International’s Round of 16.
Keys boasts a 3-2 lead in the rivalry, but Ostapenko took out the most recent clash at the 2023 Doha Open.
Bouncing back from a straight-sets loss to Marie Bouzkova in the first round in Brisbane, world No.17 Ostapenko came from behind to blow Magdalena Frech off the court 4-6 6-1 6-1 yesterday.
World No.20 Keys was smarting from a quarter-final loss to eventual champ Clara Tauson as the Auckland Open’s top seed, but she sizzled in a 6-2 6-1 win over 16th-ranked Beatriz Haddad Maia in the first round here.
Keys may be the more consistent performer but there’s nothing between the duo at their best and Ostapenko is an extremely compelling $3.30 outsider given her recent success at this event.
Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry is hunting back-to-back big-serving Aussie scalps at the Adelaide International as he lines up Thanasi Kokkinakis in the Round of 16.
Eight seed Etcheverry saw off Tristan Schoolkate 7-6 6-3 yesterday, despite losing the ace count 14-4.
The world No.39 held serve himself throughout, however, and was very strong on the second serve in his first tour-level hit-out of 2025 after some mixed United Cup form.
World No.77 Kokkinakis blew away the cobwebs in his first outing of 2025 on Monday, outlasting Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3 3-6 6-3 after sending down 15 aces.
The hometown boy clinched his only ATP title to date at this tournament in 2022 and should be able to ride the crowd support to a victory over the clay specialist here.
Coming off her maiden WTA win, 16-year-old Queenslander Emerson Jones takes on 2023-24 Adelaide International runner-up Daria Kasatkina in the Round of 16.
Jones emerged as the next big thing in Australian tennis in 2024 by reaching two junior grand slam finals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
Handed a wildcard for this tournament, Jones stunned Wang Xinyu 6-4 6-0 and will catapult her into the top 300 and she is also confirmed to feature in the Australian Open as a wildcard.
But world No.9 Kasatkina represents a new challenge for the Gold Coast upstart. After going down to shock finalist Polina Kudermetova in the Brisbane International’s Round of 16, Kasatkina responded by putting away Olivia Gadecki 6-2 6-3 on Monday.
Kasatkina struggled on the big stages in 2024 but reached six WTA 500 finals, picking up wins at the Eastbourne International in June and the Ningbo Open in October.
Expect the experienced Russian to get the job done here – particularly in light of her excellent Adelaide International record – but Jones has nothing to lose and shapes as a solid option to cover.