Thirty-two third-round matches have become 16 as the Australian Open 2025 fourth-round line-up was locked in on Saturday night.
We preview five of the best of those as players target a quarterfinal berth at Melbourne Park.
[7] Novak Djokovic v [24] Jiri Lehecka
Jiri Lehecka loves playing in Australia, winning his first ATP title in Adelaide last year before reigning supreme in Brisbane this year.
By advancing to the fourth round at Australian Open 2025, he’s a perfect 8-0 on Australian soil to start season 2025.
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The trouble is, he’s facing a player who’s even better Down Under.
Novak Djokovic has owned the Australian Open, a 10-time champion who in 2025 is targeting an all-time record 25th Grand Slam singles title.
He beat Lehecka’s countryman Tomas Machac in straight sets on Friday night – describing it “definitely the best match I played in the tournament” – and when he faces Lehecka, he’ll enter Rod Laver Arena having won 36 of his past 37 matches on the famed court.
Djokovic won his only previous meeting with the Czech in three sets at last year’s United Cup, but Lehecka is ambitious, and will love nothing more than another shot to reverse that result.
[1] Aryna Sabalenka v [14] Mirra Andreeva
Before Djokovic opens the Sunday night session at Rod Laver Arena, Aryna Sabalenka kicks off the day session against Mirra Andreeva.
The world No.1’s form has been imperious. She hasn’t dropped a set at the Australian Open since 2023, and is on a 17-match winning streak at Melbourne Park, boosting her career winning percentage at Rod Laver Arena to 90 with her third-round win over Clara Tauson.
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She’s won 27 of her past 28 matches at hard-court majors, her sole loss in that span coming in the 2023 US Open final to Coco Gauff.
Said Andreeva, after they’d booked a fifth meeting since the beginning of 2023: “Honestly, I'm so tired to play against her… It's a lot. So what can I say? Here we are again.”
Andreeva has scratched her way to the last 16, dropping sets in her past two matches. But more notably, she’s into the fourth round of a Slam for the fourth time – and the second straight year in Melbourne – at just 17 years of age.
She’ll try to counter Sabalenka’s power and physicality with her clever, counterpunching approach.
“I know that probably it's going to be an entertaining match, and of course, I'm going to do everything possible,” she said. “I think it's going to be interesting to watch.”
[3] Carlos Alcaraz v [15] Jack Draper
Jack Draper beat Carlos Alcaraz the last time they met, at Queen’s Club six months ago. But back then he had not played three consecutive five-set matches to get there.
The Brit was wobbly on his legs during his on-court interview on Friday night, after beating Aleksandar Vukic in his latest epic.
No player in the Open era has won four consecutive five-setters at the same Slam. But there have been some who’ve won three, and gone on to win their next match.
One of those is Alcaraz, who won three straight five-setters to arrive in the 2022 US Open final, where he beat Casper Ruud in four sets.
That was the first of four Grand Slam singles titles; the next three came at Wimbledon (twice) and Roland Garros. The Australian Open remains the only major missing from his set.
The young Spaniard has big goals, and will be keen to quash the threat Draper poses and keep alive his quest to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam.
[3] Coco Gauff v Belinda Bencic
Belinda Bencic’s comeback, after giving birth to daughter Bella last April, has been inspiring.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist has won 15 of her 19 matches since her October return and gone from being unranked to back inside the top 300.
But after wins over major champions Jelena Ostapenko and (an albeit injured) Naomi Osaka to get to this point at Melbourne Park, she next faces a third – and more formidable – one in Coco Gauff.
Gauff has not dropped a set in 2025, building an 8-0 record that saw her help Team USA to the United Cup title and return to the second week at the AO for the fourth time.
Her serve and forehand have improved, and coupled with her stellar athleticism and backhand, she’s proving almost unbeatable, winning 21 of her past 23 matches.
They’ve split two career meetings, but Gauff trounced Bencic in the most recent match, losing just three games in Washington.
Will be savvy Swiss, known for her ability to take the ball incredibly early and expert changes of direction, be able to halt the momentum Gauff has built?
Gael Monfils v [21] Ben Shelton
An entertaining intergenerational battle awaits on Monday when Gael Monfils and Ben Shelton go head to head.
Monfils has been one of the stories of the tournament, tapping into a rich vein of form at age 38 to win the Auckland title the week before advancing to the fourth round at AO 2025.
The captivating Frenchman, who retains much of the athleticism that has defined his career, stunned in-form fourth seed Taylor Fritz on Saturday to set up a showdown with another American in Shelton.
Shelton reached the quarterfinal in Melbourne on debut in 2023, and the semifinals of the US Open that year, before posting more modest Slam results in 2024.
He appears to be rediscovering some of that 2023 momentum, overcoming a succession of impressive opponents – Brandon Nakashima, Pablo Carreno Busta and 16th seed Lorenzo Musetti – to get to this point.
The lefty will need all of his weapons, including that 227km/h serve, to be firing if he is to end Monfils’ inspired Antipodean run.