Every player representing Australia: Who's in action on day three?
Updated . First published
Kyrgios headlines bumper day two
A dozen Aussies are in action in a bumper second day of play at the Australian Open.
The most high-profile of those is Nick Kyrgios' long-awaited return to Melbourne Park, taking to John Cain Arena tonight against brit Jacob Fearnley.
Speaking on Nine's Today on Monday morning, AO tournament director Craig Tiley said he believed Kyrgios had "a good shot" at making it through to the second round, despite his lack of match fitness.
"We haven't seen him here for a couple of years but he's been training well, I've spent a bit of time with him, he's excited about playing," he said.
"He loves playing in front of this crowd and this crowd will see him through it."
Click through for the rest of the Aussies in action on Monday.
Olivia Gadecki
The only Australian woman to receive automatic qualification into the home grand slam, Gadecki is one to watch.
The 22-year-old climbed her way into the top 100 after making her first WTA 500 final in Mexico.
She represented the green and gold in the United Cup group stage, but fell short in both her singles matches.
R1 opponent: Veronika Kudermetova (Tuesday)
![Emerson Jones [WC]](https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_1%2C$multiply_1%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_4163%2C$x_0%2C$y_160/t_crop_custom/c_scale%2Cw_2400%2Ce_sharpen:60%2Cq_auto:best%2Cfl_any_format/07adc04f79472171ecc94c4a378b7f082838f155)
Emerson Jones [WC]
At age 16, this prodigy has already put her rivals on notice.
Jones is the first Australian to rise to world No.1 in the junior girls' rankings since Jelena Dokic in 1998.
She produced a stellar performance to start the 2025 season, knocking out world No.37 Wang Xin at the Adelaide International in the opening round.
R1 opponent: Elena Rybakina (Tuesday)
Kim Birrell
A resilient performance against Oksana Selekhmeteva in the final round of qualifying saw Birrell gain a late entry into the main draw.
Birrell missed most of the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to injury, but has returned in fine form.
She became Australia's top-ranked woman in the singles for the first time in August 2023.
Her last grand slam feature was at the 2024 US Open.
R1 opponent: Anna Kalinskaya (Tuesday)
![Alex de Minaur [8]](https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_1%2C$multiply_1%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_770%2C$x_165%2C$y_19/t_crop_custom/c_scale%2Cw_2400%2Ce_sharpen:60%2Cq_auto:best%2Cfl_any_format/703f1d50a1a2ab3089650b33e79430571a1554ec)
Alex de Minaur [8]
The Demon enters his home slam with his sights set firmly on a deep run.
Having spent much of 2024 inside the top-10 in the world rankings, De Minaur is likely Australia's best chance at securing a first home slam victory since Ash Barty in 2022.
He comfortably won both his United Cup ties, then beat world No.3 Carlos Alcaraz in a charity match in Melbourne.
He will be hoping to finally break his second-week duck at Melbourne Park, having never made it past the fourth round.
R1 opponent: Botic van de Zandschulp (Tuesday)
![Alexei Popyrin [25]](https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_1%2C$multiply_1%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_4500%2C$x_0%2C$y_108/t_crop_custom/c_scale%2Cw_2400%2Ce_sharpen:60%2Cq_auto:best%2Cfl_any_format/beb9f49ad9311657c771e584a9f3c4443bf65951)
Alexei Popyrin [25]
The 25-year-old is the second of three Aussie men seeded at this year's AO.
2024 was undoubtedly the best year of his career, highlighted by a giant-killing run to his maiden ATP 1000 title in Montreal. He beat Andrey Rublev in the final, but he also knocked off Seb Korda, Hubert Hurkacz, Grigor Dimitrov, Ben Shelton and Tomas Machac along the way.
He would also beat Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic before the end of the year to reach a career-high of No.23 in December.
Popyrin has a powerful game and has a real chance of making a run into the second week, although Medvedev looms as his most likely third round opponent should he progress that far.
R1 opponent: Corentin Moutet (Tuesday)
Rinky Hijikata
The world No.99 went down disappointingly in the first round of the Australian Open men's singles last year to Jan-Lennard Struff in five sets.
He has made an impressive run at the Adelaide International and will be hoping to carry some form into the Melbourne Park major.
R1 opponent: Mitchell Krueger (Tuesday)
![Talia Gibson [WC]](https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_1%2C$multiply_1%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_3891%2C$x_0%2C$y_203/t_crop_custom/c_scale%2Cw_2400%2Ce_sharpen:60%2Cq_auto:best%2Cfl_any_format/496fbf3ac1f40ad0821657f846b4a47dffbf7c20)
Talia Gibson [WC]
Aussie wildcard Talia Gibson has booked her spot in the second round of the Australian Open, fighting back from a set down to defeat Turk Zeynep Sönmez 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1.
After four home hopefuls lost on day one, the 20-year-old is the first Aussie through to the second round.
It's the Perth native's first victory at a grand slam, and her first win ever over a top-100 ranked player.
"I am over the moon," she told Nine's Clint Stanaway courtside.
"Honestly, it feels absolutely amazing (to) get my first win at a home slam here in front of so many people on such an amazing court.
"I am just lost for words, really, really, really happy."
She'll have a tough ask in the second round, set to face No.11 seed Paula Badosa.
R1 result: def Zeynep Sönmez 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1.
R2 opponent: [11] Paula Badosa (Wednesday)
![Ajla Tomljanovic [WC]](https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_1%2C$multiply_1%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_8052%2C$x_0%2C$y_0/t_crop_custom/c_scale%2Cw_2400%2Ce_sharpen:60%2Cq_auto:best%2Cfl_any_format/e2f602c6c7158217dd6ea65c56f2aa6e6e82aebb)
Ajla Tomljanovic [WC]
After injuries meant a quiet 2023, Tomljanovic was able to get back on court in 2024 and lift her ranking to 116.
She even picked up a win at a 125 event in Hong Kong in October.
The 31-year-old was knocked out by old foe Jelena Ostapenko in a hard-fought second round match-up in last year's AO, and would dearly love a deep run in 2025 to cement herself back inside the top-100.
R1 result: def. Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
R2 opponent: [12] Diana Shnaider (Wednesday)
![Jordan Thompson [27]](https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_1%2C$multiply_1%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_5597%2C$x_0%2C$y_313/t_crop_custom/c_scale%2Cw_2400%2Ce_sharpen:60%2Cq_auto:best%2Cfl_any_format/e7b3fa8329501e52c091d49f540fa3aa6fa7276c)
Jordan Thompson [27]
Thompson is another to make a surge up the rankings in the last two years, and will be the third seeded Aussie man at Melbourne Park.
He is under something of an injury cloud heading into the AO, having pulled out of his Brisbane International quarter-final against Grigor Dimitrov with a calf issue.
Speaking after arriving in Melbourne he admitted his body had "been better" but was confident of giving a good account of himself when he takes the court.
R1 result: def. Dominik Koepfer 7-6 (3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
R2 opponent: Nuno Borges (Wednesday)
