After the draw for the Australian Open 2025, which begins on January 12th, was announced on Thursday morning, there was once again talk that the luck of the draw had gone to Germany’s number one Alexander Zverev. A claim that at least has foundations of clay.
If Alexander Zverev makes the next attempt to finally win his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open 2025, the Hamburg native will have a duel in the first round in which he will undoubtedly go into it as the favorite. But Frenchman Lucas Pouille is certainly not an easy task.
Of course, it is in the nature of things that the number two in the tennis world does not normally meet an absolute top star in the scene at the start of a Grand Slam. Likewise, a defeat for Zverev against number 104 in the world rankings would be a huge surprise. However, Pouille is anything but your typical walk-in customer.
The 30-year-old was already in the semi-finals Down Under in 2019, reached the round of the last eight at Wimbledon and the US Open and was ranked in the top 10 of the tennis world in 2018. Stubborn injury problems subsequently threw the 2017 Davis Cup winner back a long way, but since 2023 Pouille has been successfully fighting his way back to the top of the world. After not being able to win a tournament for three years, the right-hander was victorious in three Challenger events in 2024.
Pouille’s class also demonstrates a simple statistic. As a result of his physical problems, he was only ranked 1064th in the world rankings in January 2024. In June, his return to the top 300 was already perfect, and Pouille ended the year as number 101 in the rankings, just outside the top 100.
Spectacular duel in round 3?
Even if you take into account that Zverev is really not known for playing his best game from minute one at Grand Slams, the circumstances described of course don’t change the fact that the DTB star shouldn’t actually fail because of Pouille . The crux of the matter: it doesn’t get much easier in the subsequent rounds.
Okay, a doable task awaits in round two with the Italian Luciano Darderi (number 44 in the world rankings) or the Spaniard Pedro Martinez (43rd), but in round three there could be a duel with Australia’s crowd favorite Nick Kyrgios – if he starts don’t have to cancel.
The tour’s enfant terrible has also struggled with injuries in recent years and only returned to the tour in November 2024, but on a good day the 29-year-old can do anything – especially when it’s with the home audience in the back against big opponents.
In the round of 16, Zverev is already threatened with a duel with 20-year-old Frenchman Arthur Fils, who is considered one of the tour’s greatest talents. In 2024, Zverev met the world number 20 three times, always over the full distance, and the Frenchman even won the final in Hamburg.
If Zverev overcomes this rocky path, there would be no easy matches on the agenda from the quarterfinals anyway.