Australian Open 2025: Andrey Rublev vs Joao Fonseca preview, head-to-head, prediction and pick

Match Details

Fixture: (9) Andrey Rublev vs Joao Fonseca

Date: January 14, 2025

Tournament: Australian Open 2025

Round: First Round (Round of 128)

Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Hard (Outdoor)

Prize Money: A$ 96,500,000

Live Telecast: USA - ESPN & Tennis Channel | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Sports & Sony Liv

Andrey Rublev vs Joao Fonseca preview

Andrey Rublev plays a forehand during a practice session ahead of the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 10, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. - Source: Getty

Ninth seed Andrey Rublev will take on the 2024 Next Gen Finals champion Joao Fonseca in the first round of the 2025 Australian Open on Tuesday (Jan. 14).

This is going to be one of the most interesting first-round matches, as the Brazilian teenager has been in superb form lately, whereas Rublev is struggling.

27-year-old Rublev had a disappointing end to the 2024 season. He lost all three matches, against Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud in the round-robin stage at the Nitto ATP Finals.

The three-time Australian Open quarterfinalist did not have a great start to the new season either. He went down 5-7, 6-3, 3-6 against Fabian Marozsan in his opening match of the season in Hong Kong.

On the other hand, the Brazilian teenager has been named as the dark horse by former World No. 1 Boris Becker. Fonseca will be making his Grand Slam main draw debut, as he won all matches in straight sets in the qualifying round.

Fonseca, who wants to compete with World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, has a great opportunity to impress on his Grand Slam debut against a Top 10 player.

Joao Fonseca of Brazil poses for a photo with the Next Gen ATP Finals Trophy after winning the Men's Final match on day five of the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF at King Abdullah Sports City on December 22, 2024 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. - Source: Getty

Andrey Rublev vs Joao Fonseca head-to-head

It will be their first meeting, so their head-to-head stands at 0-0.

Andrey Rublev vs Joao Fonseca odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap bets	Total games
Andrey Rublev	TBD	TBD	TBD
Joao Fonseca	TBD	TBD	TBD

(Odds will be added when available)

Andrey Rublev vs Joao Fonseca prediction

World No. 9 Rublev may not be in a great form, but he has reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open three times in his last four appearances.

Rublev has been one of the most consistent players in hard court Grand Slams in the last five years. He has reached the quarterfinal six times in the last ten appearances (Australian Open and US Open combined).

18-year-old Fonseca has a winning streak of eight matches, as he won the Canberra Challenger just before the Australian Open qualifying round, without dropping a set. But there is a lot of difference between best-of-three and best-of-five set matches.

It would be interesting to see how Fonseca handles the pressure of his Grand Slam debut against an experienced campaigner like Rublev, who has reached 10 Grand Slam quarterfinals in 28 appearances. It surely would be a great learning experience for the promising youngster.

Pick: Rublev to win in five sets.