Jelena Ostapenko will be in a happy place when she launches her Adelaide International 2025 campaign at The Drive on Tuesday.
In 2024, the Latvian defeated Daria Kasatkina in the final to secure a seventh singles title in the South Australian capital. Unsurprisingly, Adelaide has become one of her favourite stops on tour.
“It’s really nice to be back in Adelaide. It’s such a nice place and city,” said Ostapenko, 27, at the official tournament draw on Saturday. “I always enjoy my time here.”
The No.8 seed will aim for a sixth straight match win in Adelaide when she faces Magdalena Frech, a world No.21 from Poland, in the first round. The players have competed once before, with Ostapenko a three-set winner in the Birmingham quarterfinals in 2023.
“She’s a good player,” said Ostapenko. “It’s never easy at the beginning of the season but I’ve been working hard so I’ll just try to get as many matches as possible before the AO.”
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Ostapenko and Frech will close out the day session in Adelaide. Other women’s matches of note include No.7 seed Anna Kalinskaya taking on Swiss qualifier Belinda Bencic who is contesting only her second event since the birth of her daughter, Bella, last April.
Experienced combatants Danielle Collins and Ons Jabeur will close out the night session on Centre Court. The 11th-ranked Collins holds a 3-1 winning match-winning over the world No.40 from Tunisia, who has returned to the tour after injury prematurely ended her 2024 season.
There’s also a strong Australian theme to Tuesday’s Adelaide International schedule.
Six local players will feature in first-round matches – two of them against each other, with qualifier James Duckworth meeting wildcard Li Tu in the first match on Court 4.
Aleksandar Vukic opens centre court proceedings against America’s Marcos Giron, while Tristan Schoolkate faces a challenging encounter against No.8 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the opening night match on centre court.
Rinky Hijikata encounters veteran Belgian David Goffin, while Adam Walton, another qualifier, meets Frenchman Arhur Cazaux.
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