Tennis - ATP Calendar: Adelaide & Auckland, who will shine on the courts before the Australian Open?
by Cydias Aujard | by Cydias Aujard
ATP 250 Adelaide
The 2024 edition of the Adelaide tournament was won by Czech Jiri Lehecka, then seeded No. 7, who defeated England's Jack Draper. The defending champion is back at this year's event as number 4 seed to defend his title. But Draper has already started his season, having just taken part in the Brisbane tournament in preparation for our Australian Open forecast.
After a very good start to the tournament, stopping world No. 13 Holger Rune in just 2 sets in the first round, and following up with two more wins over Yoshihito Nishioka (world No. 69) and Nicolas Jarry (world No. 35), he benefited from the withdrawal of top 10 player Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-finals to finally reach the final of the tournament and win the title following the withdrawal of his opponent, Reilly Opelka. A very interesting start to the season, but one that should have taken its toll on his fatigue before he can repeat a similar performance in Adelaide.
Tommy Paul favourite?
The winner of this tournament in Adelaide should be a player who is starting his season in this tournament. This is the case for number 1 seed Tommy Paul, ranked 12th in the world. Never ranked as highly as he was during the 2024 season, the 27-year-old American won no fewer than 3 ATP tournaments last year.
For the second year running, he won the Stockholm hard court tournament at the end of last season, beating Grigor Dimitrov in just 2 sets. He also won the Dallas hard court tournament and the Queen's grass court tournament.
These successes come as no surprise, given that Tommy Paul has gone from strength to strength season after season. With 45 wins against 19 losses in 2024, he should be determined to complete his preparation for the Australian Open, where he was a semi-finalist in 2023. What's more, he was stopped in the quarter-finals of the Adelaide tournament last year by Jack Draper, so he should be keen to do better this season, and the configuration of the main draw should enable him to reach the final and win the title. Keep an eye on his performance in our tennis forecast!
Korda not ready yet
A second American could have been a contender for the title: Sebastian Korda, ranked 22nd in the world and seeded number 2. A semi-finalist here last year, the American seems to be in less good form this year. Currently injured and having ended his season last August with a second-round defeat by Tomas Machac at the US Open, he should need more time to get back to a potential final.
Our ATP Adelaide prediction: Tommy Paul wins!
ATP 250 Auckland
Last year, it was 27-year-old Chilean Alejandro Tabilo who took the title from Richard Gasquet at the Australian Open. Indeed, last year's winner was not seeded, as Alejandro Tabilo even came through the qualifying rounds. An exceptional run that should leave many of this season's participants dreaming.
Ben Shelton favourite
But this year, the tournament's number 1 seed is the same as last year, the American Ben Shelton, ranked 21st in the world. Semi-finalist here last year and eliminated by Japan's Taro Daniel, he should be keen to exact his revenge and reach the final this time. The young American has everything it takes to get his 2025 season off to a good start. A member of the world's top 20 in 2023, he slipped four places in the ATP rankings last year, but had a very positive year, winning 42 matches and losing just 26.
Winner of the Houston tournament on clay, he won 60% of his last 10 matches on hard court at the end of the season, making his mark at the Basel tournament. He was a finalist at the tournament last October, knocking out top 10 Andrey Rublev and then world number 21 Arthur Fils before losing to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. Having beaten world No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in the Laver Cup, he should now have the confidence to be the favourite and the big winner of this tournament in Auckland, so that he can arrive at the Australian Open in top form.
A double for Tabilo?
The number 2 seed is none other than the tournament's defending champion, Chilean Alejandro Tabilo, who has qualified directly for the main draw this year. Having come here to defend his title, which he won against Taro Daniel, he is expected to be relentless in his pursuit of victory.
However, he was stopped in the second round of the Paris-Bercy Masters in his final match of last season by world No. 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas, and he failed to make a successful return to the courts when he lost in the first round in Brisbane last week to Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, despite being seeded No. 6.
What about the British?
On the British side, we can only count on the presence of Cameron Norrie, who was eliminated in the quarter-finals of last week's tournament in Hong Kong. He will face Argentina's Facundo Diaz Acosta, who has not progressed beyond the round of sixteen since the ATP Montreal last August.
In pretty good form recently, he could be in the mix in the first few matches and could hope for a good result in Auckland, like his tournament in Metz in November, where he reached the final.
Our ATP Auckland prediction: Ben Shelton wins!
