The 2025 Australian Open began on Jan. 6 and concluded with the men’s singles final on Jan. 26. Held annually in Melbourne, Australia during the final two weeks of January, the Australian Open is considered one of the most prestigious events in tennis.
Established in 1905, the Australian Open is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments, alongside the US Open, the French Open and Wimbledon. The tournament is renowned for its iconic courts, including Margaret Court Arena and Rod Laver Arena.
In the women’s finals, American Madison Keys, seeded nineteenth, triumphed over the number one player in the world, Aryna Sabelenka, winning 6-3, 2-6, and 7-5. At 29 years old, Keys is now the second-oldest player to win her first Australian Open title, following Li Na in 2014.
Sophomore Natalie McIntosh, one of Sidwell’s varsity tennis team players, shared, “It was very surprising that Keys won. She is really old and was totally not expected to win.”
Sophomore Zoe Gibson-Johnson, another Sidwell tennis player, also found herself startled by the results: “Key’s win was really surprising. I didn’t expect her to beat so many top-ten players, and I especially didn’t even consider the idea of her winning the whole tournament.”
On Jan. 26, Jannik Sinner faced Alexander Zverev in the men’s finals. The two men were ranked first and second in the world, respectively, making this match the first time since 2019 where the top two male players have faced off in the Australian Open final.
In the end, Sinner beat Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3, making him the youngest man, at age 23, to win the tournament twice since Jim Courier.
Gibson-Johnson also shared her insights on the turnout of the men’s semifinals, especially the run of American player Ben Shelton, who lost to Sinner in the semifinals.
“I thought he would get out really early in the tournament because he was seeded at twenty-one. He’s also only in his twenties,” she added.
Ben Shelton is now the youngest American to reach the semi-finals in twenty-two years. Despite not securing a spot in the finals, he has now put himself on the radar of more people in the tennis community.
A fan-favorite story from the tournament was the success of married duo Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina. On Jan.18, Monfils, the French singles player, and Svitolina, the Ukrainian singles player, celebrated beating the number four seeds in each tournament.
On the Margaret Court, Monfils beat Taylor Fritz, the top-ranked American man, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(1) and 6-4. Monfils, age 38, is now the oldest player to win against a Top-Five in Melbourne.
Monfils later returned to the Margaret Court to watch Svitolina play against Jasmine Paolini, a two-time major finalist. Svitolina won against Paolini 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 that night, achieving her first Top-Five win since Wimbledon 2023.
Svitolina later said in an interview, “I got inspired by my husband’s win,” adding that “I watched a little bit … But I played so bad the first set, [so] I’m not sure I was inspired [after all]!”
Svitolina paralleled her comeback and spirit to the current war in her country following Russia’s invasion. “In so many different levels, [Ukrainians] show the resilience. We are fighting for what is ours. We want really badly to have it — fighting spirit is in our blood,” she said.