<p>Racquets at the ready! The 2025 Australian Open is here! We’ve cast our overall predictions for both the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/huddle/australian-open/predictions/mens-draw-2025">men’s</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/huddle/australian-open/predictions/womens-draw-2025">women’s</a> draw and examined all the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/huddle/australian-open/news/aussie-players-in-action-2025">Aussies</a> set to storm Melbourne Park this year.</p> <p>Now it’s time to turn our attention to some of the key matchups set to take place in the First Round of the 2025 Australian Open.</p> <p>Naturally we’ll be focusing on the games involving the Aussies, but we’ll also be providing betting tips for all the biggest games right up to both the men’s and women’s finals.</p> <p>Starting with some first round fixtures featuring our homegrown hopefuls, if you’re looking for the latest betting tips, odds, and analysis for the 2025 Australian Open, you’ve come to the right place.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Alex de Minaur (8) vs Botic van de Zandschulp Prediction</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>From an Aussie perspective there’s nowhere else to start than with Alex de Minaur’s opening match.</p> <p>The Demon will take on unseeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp. Don’t like his lack of ranking fool you though, Zandschulp is a former world No.22 who knocked Carlos Alacaraz out of the US Open last year.</p> <p>We are anticipating him to provide more resistance than perhaps the Demon would like this early on, but it’s impossible to not back our great Aussie hope home here, particularly when he’s playing the best tennis of his career.</p> <p><strong>Head-to-head prediction:</strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/tennis/mens-australian-open/botic-van-de-zandschulp-v-alex-de-minaur-8845682">Alex de Minaur.</a></p> <p><strong>Betting tip:</strong> Zandschulp to win a set.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Emerson Jones vs Elena Rybakina (6) Prediction</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>What a story we have here! 16, yes 16-year-old Aussie Emerson Jones will get to face No.6 seed Elena Rybakina.</p> <p>Obviously, it would take a minor miracle for this match to end in any other result than a convincing Rybakina win, but Jones will be all the better for the experience.</p> <p>The No.1 ranked junior in the world and with the home crowd right behind her, Emerson is more than capable of taking at least a couple games off the 2022 Wimbledon champion.</p> <p><strong>Head-to-head prediction: </strong>Elena Rybakina.</p> <p><strong>Betting tip:</strong> Rybakina to win in straight sets.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Alexei Popyrin (25) vs Corentin Moutet Prediction</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Quickly becoming one of the great Aussie entertainers, particularly at this event, is Alexei Popyrin.</p> <p>The newly minted No.25 seed will take on Corentin Moutet in the first round of this year’s Australian Open.</p> <p>Moutet is more suited to the clay courts of Europe, and we anticipate Popyrin to come out all guns blazing to put on a show for the adoring Aussie public.</p> <p><strong>Head-to-head prediction:</strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/tennis/mens-australian-open/alexei-popyrin-v-corentin-moutet-8845659">Alexei Popyrin</a></p> <p><strong>Betting tip:</strong> Set betting – Popyrin 3-1.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Ajla Tomljanovic v Ashlyn Krueger Prediction</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>There’s another favourable matchup for an Aussie in the first round of the 2025 Australian Open.</p> <p>Despite being unseeded, Ajla Tomljanovic has drawn inexperienced American Ashlyn Krueger to start her AO campaign.</p> <p>The 20-year-old American has never made it past the first round of this Slam and we’re tipping that not to change here, paving the way for Tomljanovic to progress to the next stage at Melbourne Park.</p> <p><strong>Head-to-head prediction:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/tennis/ladies-australian-open/ajla-tomljanovic-v-ashlyn-krueger-8845573">Ajla Tomljanovic</a>.</p> <p><strong>Betting tip: </strong>Over two sets.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Nick Kyrgios vs Jacob Fearnley Prediction</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>To round out our betting tips and predictions for the first round of the Australian Open 2025, we simply couldn’t resist giving Nick Kyrgios a little more limelight.</p> <p>The mercurial Aussie, who is currently unseeded after a long injury lay off, avoided a first-round disaster and drew inexperienced Scotsman Jacob Fearnley as opposed to one of the big hitters.</p> <p>If his body holds up, and that’s a big if considering his recent injury woes (there’s whispers he may not play at all), Kyrgios should have more than enough quality to dispatch Fearnley in straight sets.</p> <p><strong>Head-to-head prediction:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/tennis/mens-australian-open/jacob-fearnley-v-nick-kyrgios-8845894">Nick Kyrgios.</a></p> <p><strong>Betting tip:</strong> Kyrgios to win in straight sets.</p>