Former French Open finalist Karolina Muchova and four-time grand slam winner Naomi Osaka meet in the second round for the second straight major.
Muchova made a blistering start to her Australian Open campaign, thrashing Nadia Podoroska 6-1 6-1.
The 20th seed had some mixed results at the United Cup – beating Jasmine Paolini in between convincing losses to Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff – but looks locked in here.
The Roland Garros runner-up in 2023, Muchova missed last year’s Australian Open (where she reached the semis in 2021) but returned to form to make the US Open semis, where she beat Osaka in the second round in straight sets to take a 2-1 lead in the rivalry.
Osaka, meanwhile, came out on top in a tough first-round match-up with Caroline Garcia, 6-3 3-6 6-3. It’s been a positive start to the season for the 2019 and ’21 Australian Open winner, reaching her first WTA final in almost three years at the Auckland Open.
The Japanese superstar’s last Round of 32 appearance was at the 2022 Australian Open – and she’s a $3.10 outsider to get to that stage with a victory here.
Osaka’s fitness will be tested but the signs are good ahead of what shapes as arguably the standout encounter of the Round of 64.
After a gutsy first-round win, Aussie stalwart Ajla Tomljanovic faces big-hitting Russian tyro Diana Shnaider at the Australian Open.
Tomljanovic upset in-form Ashlyn Krueger 6-4 4-6 6-4, having lost to Krueger in straight sets in her only previous 2025 hit-out at the Adelaide International.
The injury-prone 31-year-old, a three-time slam quarter-finalist, is now vying to progress past the AO’s second round for the first time.
12th seed Shnaider has made a decent start to 2025 on the back of a brilliant breakout season.
She made it to the quarters in Adelaide before accounting for Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-6 6-4 in the opening round at Melbourne Park.
The 20-year-old made it to the last 16 at the US Open before winning her fourth WTA title of 2024 at the Hong Kong Tennis Open.
That sort of form should be too good for Tomljanovic, but the veteran is a compelling $3.90 underdog if she can replicate her first-round resolve.
Popular Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis confronts a significant second-round hurdle in the shape of 15th seed Jack Draper.
Big-serving Kokkinakis followed up his quarter-final run in Adelaide with a solid first-up Australian Open win over Roman Safiullin, sending down 23 aces in a 3-6 6-3 6-3 7-6 result.
The 28-year-old has a sizeable bogey to overcome here, however, having never made it past the AO’s second round, while his only third-round grand slam appearances came at the French Open.
Draper, meanwhile, survived a gruelling first-round test from Mariano Navone, twice fighting back from a set down to ultimately win in five.
The 23-year-old Brit began to realise his potential late last season, reaching the US Open semis and winning the Vienna Open.
Draper leads the head-to-head 2-1, winning a 2023 Davis Cup encounter and 2024 Madrid Masters clash either side of Kokkinakis’ Los Cabos Open victory last year. All three matches required a deciding set.
While he’ll be looking for more consistency than he showed against Navone, the way he closed out that match was encouraging and – as one of the best returners on the tour – he should have the required attributes to thwart Kokkinakis and a parochial Melbourne crowd.
A second-round blockbuster awaits at the Australian Open as sixth seed Casper Ruud lines up against boom 19-year-old Jakub Mensik.
Ruud has already had to dig deep at Melbourne Park, prevailing in an undulating marathon against Jaume Munar 6-3 1-6 7-5 6-2 6-1 on Sunday. He found his first-serve groove in the deciding set to close out a three-and-a-half-hour showdown.
The three-time grand slam runner-up’s best Australian Open showing was reaching the fourth round back in 2021.
Ruud’s coming off an underwhelming second half of the 2024 season, struggling for consistency after an excellent clay swing – though he did make the ATP Finals semis and looked good at the United Cup earlier this month.
World No.48 Mensik kicked off 2025 with back-to-back quarter-finals at the Brisbane International and Auckland Open, upsetting Ben Shelton at the latter.
He followed that up with a 6-1 6-7 6-3 6-3 win over Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round on Monday.
The Czech tyro made the third round of the past two US Opens, and the final of the Qatar Open and the quarters of the Shanghai Masters in 2024 to announce himself as a player of the future. He’s only a slight $2.10 outsider in this one.
This has the makings of another seesaw encounter for Ruud, who needs to improve to see of the Mensik threat.