{"id":387793,"date":"2026-01-02T23:19:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T23:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/387793\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T23:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T23:19:12","slug":"key-lead-up-matches-to-watch-including-de-minaur-osaka-and-swiatek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/387793\/","title":{"rendered":"Key lead-up matches to watch including de Minaur, Osaka and Swiatek"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Loading<\/p>\n<p>De Minaur came out on top in a recent exhibition match between the pair in London, while the Australian has beaten Ruud in their two official meetings on tour.<\/p>\n<p>De Minaur wouldn\u2019t expect to face an opponent as strong as Ruud until the second week of a grand slam, so this contest will be a good indicator of his form.<\/p>\n<p>Alexander Zverev v Tallon Griekspoor<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, January 4; Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Alexander Zverev in the 2025 Australian Open final.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0f13b1edbc5616a8cf0e4c0606c476fd2338a97f.jpeg\" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Alexander Zverev in the 2025 Australian Open final.Credit: Eddie Jim<\/p>\n<p>World No.3 Zverev reached the 2025 Australian Open final, where he was well beaten by Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the German\u2019s performances have been patchy as he struggled for consistency throughout the 2025 season.<\/p>\n<p>Zverev defeated Dutchman Griekspoor in three of their four meetings in 2025, but one of those was a retirement and the other a walkover. Their matches tend to be close, often going to three sets with tiebreakers.<\/p>\n<p>This meeting will be a good gauge of Zverev\u2019s credentials for the men\u2019s title at the Australian Open.<\/p>\n<p>Naomi Osaka v Emma Raducanu<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, January 4, RAC Arena, Perth<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Japan\u2019s Naomi Osaka.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/70fc28c4777597c80926d0d615111e527fd89d5a.jpeg\" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Japan\u2019s Naomi Osaka.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Two grand slam singles champions. What a match.<\/p>\n<p>Osaka heads to Perth for the United Cup following a strong finish to the 2025 season, which included a semi-final appearance at the US Open.<\/p>\n<p>On the other side of the net, Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, has battled injury and inconsistency but remains a massive threat when she finds her rhythm.<\/p>\n<p>The two have only met once before \u2013 in Washington last year when Raducanu won in straight sets. This is exactly the kind of test these players want ahead of a major.<\/p>\n<p>Jasmine Paolini v Belinda Bencic<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, January 4; RAC Arena, Perth<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Italy\u2019s Jasmine Paolini.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/d08bf5cd3f0a064bfd6dfdc297818e97e78c57b7.jpeg\" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Italy\u2019s Jasmine Paolini.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>This is a United Cup rematch.<\/p>\n<p>Paolini and Bencic met at the tournament in Sydney last year, where Paolini dominated in a 6-1, 6-1 victory. But we can scratch that match from the record.<\/p>\n<p>Bencic had just returned after taking maternity leave and has since rediscovered her best form, claiming the title in Tokyo in October.<\/p>\n<p>Both players are expected to reach the second week at Melbourne Park, and are sure to bring the best out of each other when they clash in Perth.<\/p>\n<p>Eva Lys v Iga Swiatek<\/p>\n<p>Monday, January 5; Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"2025 Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/17bb9e0a5ab3304d282b2457aa9b7060c9a864e1.jpeg\" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" \/><\/p>\n<p>2025 Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek.Credit: AP<\/p>\n<p>Swiatek heads to Australia looking to complete the career slam, having won the other three majors, but she has always struggled to find her best in Melbourne.<\/p>\n<p>The Pole made it as far as the semi-finals last year before losing to eventual champion Madison Keys, but two rounds earlier, she defeated Germany\u2019s Lys \u2013 a breakout star of the tournament who went on to have her best season on tour.<\/p>\n<p>It will be interesting to see if the pair can find similar form Down Under in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Maya Joint v Barbora Krejcikova<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday, January 6; Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Maya Joint won her second WTA singles title of 2025 at Eastbourne.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/46b737779feb3348d0485f02461f963ece0f2d38.jpeg\" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Maya Joint won her second WTA singles title of 2025 at Eastbourne.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>This match is not to be missed for all Australian tennis fans.<\/p>\n<p>Loading<\/p>\n<p>Joint begins her season for the first time as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/link\/follow-20170101-p5nqu5\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Australia\u2019s highest-ranked female player<\/a> after an exceptional 2025 campaign, which included two WTA titles. The next step for Joint is to start beating the best.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t let Krejcikova\u2019s ranking (No.65) fool you \u2013 the Czech is a two-time major champion. On her day, Krejcikova is one of the trickiest players on tour, but her past few seasons have been disrupted by injury.<\/p>\n<p>This is a true test for Joint, who will be hoping to be seeded at Melbourne Park for the first time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Loading De Minaur came out on top in a recent exhibition match between the pair in London, while&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-387793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}