Australian Open draw features great champions alongside emerging talent

Riviere, Howell, Fahey (x2), Taylor-Matthews and Van Der Zwalmen line up against a field packed with talented Australians

The 2025 Australian Open draw was conducted earlier today at the Hobart Real Tennis Club ahead of what promises to be an exciting festival of real tennis in the second week of January. The event is being held in Hobart instead of its usual venue in Melbourne to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Hobart court. It will also mark the first event in the 2027 World Championship Race, with players searching for an early points lead to take into the two year long competition.

The event will showcase established champions playing alongside a emerging Australian talent, with five of the 18 competitors in the men’s competitions being born this side of the Millenium. Across the men’s and women’s fields, there will be players representing six countries, with two French players in the open draw and two women competing in the men’s draw for the first time in a main draw.

Camden Riviere will return to the Australian Open for the first time since 2019, having been absent for the previous four editions. He approaches the tournament as a strong favourite, as is the case for just about every tournament he enters. His last foray at Hobart was winning the 2019 World Doubles Championship. He is also the first seed in the doubles, partnering with Chris Chapman.

Nick Howell will only play the singles tournament, forgoing the doubles as he is due to be married in Victoria in the days leading up to the event. He enters the tournament with an opportunity to take the World Number 2 ranking from John Lumley, who will be absent from the event. Howell has been a finalist in four of the last five editions, with losses to Lumley, Chapman and Riviere.

Rob Fahey will continue his prolonged retirement party by lining up in both the singles and doubles at the club he learned to play at. He is seeded to play Riviere in the semi final, which if it should go to seed would be the earliest into a tournament the two would have met since the 2012 British Open. Fahey suffered a calf injury at the recent British Open, so it remains to be seen what condition he will be in by January.

Ben Taylor-Matthews enters as third seed, looking to move beyond his first round exit in 2024 and secure a first Australian Open final since 2016. Taylor-Matthews is seeded to play Nick Howell in what could be a remach of the 2024 Champions Trophy final and a preview of the upcoming World Championship Eliminator. Taylor-Matthews has teamed up with Fahey in the doubles to form a strong second seed pairing.

The fifth through eighth seeds feature Chris Chapman, Lewis Williams, Kieran Booth and John Woods-Casey. Should all seeds progress, perhaps the most intriguing quarter final will be the rematch between Booth and Taylor-Matthews, following Booth’s upset victory in the first round of the 2024 edition. There could also be a battle of retirees between Chapman and Fahey to wet appetites, the former having retired from international play just over 12 months ago. Williams will look to prove his form against Howell, while Woods-Casey has the unenviable task of being seeded to play Riviere.

There could be plenty of excitement in the early rounds too. The pick of the first round is probably Claire Fahey against Lewis Williams, with the two going to five sets when they last met in competition at the 2022 British Open. Oliver Pridmore will fancy his chances against Chris Chapman, the two having never previously met in competition. Lea Van Der Zwalmen will become the second woman to play in a men’s main draw in her first round match against Taylor-Matthews, having previously attempted to qualify for the British Open in 2019, while Baudouin Huynh-Lenhardt will make his international major debut, following his debut at the French Open in 2024. The draw is rounded out by a laundry list of young talent, including Britain’s Will Flynn and Australia’s Nick Stenning, Sammy Legg, Darcy Webster-Jones and Hobart professional Jackson Pastoor. Legg and Webster-Jones will battle Hobart veteran Tony Blom in a qualifying play-off.

The women’s draw is headlined by World Champion and defending Australian Open Champion Claire Fahey who, like Riviere, enters as a heavy favourite. She won the 2024 edition which also held in Hobart and separate from the men’s event due to the timing of the Bathurst Cup. This year, she enters the women’s doubles with Saskia Bollerman, their first Australian Open together since 2018, while she enters the men’s doubles with Flynn in what promises to be an entertaining match against Booth and Pridmore.

Lea Van Der Zwalmen returns for her second Australian Open, looking for a potential rematch of the 2024 final against Fahey. She is looking to make inroads into the World Champion having threatened her in the past but never taken a set from her in singles. Van Der Zwalmen will be looking to use the event as preparation for the new-format Ladies World Championships in May. Her first round match will be against local club member Ange Green. In the doubles, she will line up alongside Jess Garside in what could be a rematch of the 2024 French Open final, where Garside and Van Der Zwalmen won the first set off Fahey and Saskia Bollerman. She also will play the men’s singles against Ben Taylor-Matthews.

Former Champion Saskia Bollerman returns to her favoured Australia in what could be an interesting first round match against Britain’s Jess Garside. The two have only previously met at the French Open, and while Australia has been a happy hunting ground for Bollerman the court characteristics are more similar to Garside’s home of Seacourt. In the unseeded first round match, Jo See Tan will play Canadian debutant Jacqueline Siu. Should she win, Tan would play Fahey in a rematch of the 2024 US Open final. Tan will partner Xanthe Ranger in the doubles, the latter not taking part in the singles draw, while Siu will play with Green.

The event will also feature a reception at Government House in Hobart, hosted by Governer of Tasmania and former Australian Open champion Barbara “Barbie” Baker. There will also be a gala dinner celebrating the 150th anniversary of the club at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania. Full details may be obtained through the Hobart Real Tennis Club. The event will be streamed in full on the Hobart Real Tennis Club YouTube Channel from 6-14 January.

The draw was hosted by Nicholas Rooke with names drawn by Chris Ronaldson and Maggie Henderson-Tew, the latter two being in Australia to initiate the new court in Sydney. Timings of matches will be posted through the IRTPA and ARTA.

Men’s Singles Draw (all draws listed from top to bottom):

• [USA] Camden Riviere (1) vs [AUS] Nick Stenning

• [AUS] Jackson Pastoor vs [AUS] John Woods-Casey (5-8)

• [AUS] Chris Chapman (5-8) vs [AUS] Oliver Pridmore

• [FRA] Baudouin Huynh-Lenhardt vs [AUS] Rob Fahey (4)

• [GBR] Ben Taylor-Matthews (3) vs [FRA] Lea Van Der Zwalmen

• [AUS] Qualifier 1 vs [AUS] Kieran Booth (5-8)

• [GBR] Lewis Williams (5-8) vs [GBR] Claire Fahey

• [GBR] Will Flynn vs [AUS] Nick Howell (2)

Men’s Singles Qualifying:

• [AUS] Sammy Legg

• [AUS] Darcy Webster-Jones

• [AUS] Tony Blom

Women’s Singles Draw:

• [GBR] Claire Fahey (1) vs BYE

• [AUS] Jo See Tan vs [CAN] Jacqueline Siu

• [NED] Saskia Bollerman (3) vs [GBR] Jess Garside

• [AUS] Ange Green vs [FRA] Lea Van Der Zwalmen

Men’s Doubles Draw:

• Camden Riviere & Chris Chapman (1) vs Baudouin Huynh-Lenhardt & Sammy Legg

• Nick Stenning & Darcy Webster-Jones vs Lewis Williams & John Woods-Casey (3)

• Kieran Booth & Oliver Pridmore (4) vs Claire Fahey & Will Flynn

• Tony Blom & Jackson Pastoor vs Rob Fahey & Ben Taylor-Matthews (2)

Women’s Doubles Draw:

• Claire Fahey & Saskia Bollerman (1) vs Jo See Tan & [AUS] Xanthe Ranger

• Ange Green & Jacqueline Siu vs Lea Van Der Zwalmen & Jess Garside (2)