It's hard to believe that the 2025 Australian Open is already here! It feels like Sabalenka and Sinner were just lifting the US Open winner's trophies yesterday, yet somehow, it's January and the Australian Open begins tomorrow night (in my timezone, at least).
And one of my favorite parts of Slams actually happens before the first ball of the main draw begins: The qualifying tournament. 16 mini-knockout tournaments. Three matches each. One winner to grab the all-important points and prize money of Major main-draw tennis, with the chance for a deep run at the pinnacle of the sport.
Needless to say, the intensity of Slam qualifying is through the roof.
As I've written a lot about women's tennis over the past few years, I was particularly intrigued by the women's qualifying draw and who qualified for the women's tournament.
Below, I break down women's qualifiers to watch. These are players that I am high on and whom I think can at least, potentially, give their opposition a scare in the first round. Perhaps some outright victories will be on the cards, as well!
Women's Qualifiers to Watch
1. Polina Kudermetova
Veronika's younger sister, Polina, has been building towards this moment for a while now. Even late last season, Kudermetova made the semifinals of the ITF $100k in Cornelia de Llobregat (hard), the WTA 500 in Merida (hard), and made the final of the ITF $100k in Dubai (hard).
Then, to open the 2024 season, Kudermetova qualified and reached the final of Brisbane, narrowly losing out to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. The Russian's return was on fire in Brisbane. Including qualifying, she broke 34 times in eight matches. This includes breaking Sabalenka's huge serve three times in the final.
Then, in Australian Open qualifying, Kudermetova didn't drop a set when she beat Susan Bandecchi, Kristina Mladenovic, and Elena Micic. These are weaker opponents, for sure, but Kudermetova still handled them with ease.
It's likely Kudermetova would have qualified regardless of who she faced. The 21 year-old is now up to a career-high of World No. 57 and did go 53-35 last year as a whole, with a 32-19 mark on hard courts.
Kudermetova is playing with a level of controlled aggression, especially early this season, that we hadn't seen from her so far in her career. She's always hit a big ball, but the level of confidence and placement of these big groundstrokes has been taken up a notch this year.
In the first round, Kudermetova takes on Magdalena Frech. Now, while the Pole did have a very good result late last season herself in winning the Guadalajara (hard) title, but she is currently on a five-match losing streak dating back to last season, starting this season 0-2.
Frech doesn't have much power, but makes up for it in guile, placement, variety, and rally tolerance. With that said, I am worried, as was the case for Kasatkina in her defeat to Kudermetova in Brisbane, that a confident Kudermetova will take Frech's less-powerful groundstrokes and punish them with authority.
Frech will have to do a great job of taking Kudermetova out of her comfort zone with changes in the spin, pace, and direction of her shots. With that said, it's a tall task.
And with Blinkova or Saville potentially in the second round for Kudermetova, it wouldn't be shocking at all to see the young Russian make a run in Melbourne.
2. Maja Chwalinska
Another player who has been building form for a little while now is Maja Chwalinka. The Pole qualified and made the second round of the WTA 500 in Merida (hard), then a few tournaments later on the clay of Florianapolis, won the event, dropping just one set in the process.
To start this season, in Australian Open qualifying, Chwalinska managed a tough qualifying draw. She took down Dominika Salkova, Marie Benoit, and Brenda Fruhvirtova in succession to advance to the main event.
Chwalinska plays such an interesting, unique game that takes her opponents out of their comfort zones. She doesn't hit with much power, but has incredible placement, variety (particularly her touch shots), rally tolerance, and fitness.
The 23 year-old works the ball around the court with such ease, dictating with her placement at times, rather than power (Kasatkina-esque). And her heavy lefty forehand cross-court to a righty's backhand is very tough for most players to handle, especially when she can then surprise them with a drop shot or other unexpected play.
It's very tough to wear Chwalinska down from the ground and, given the depth and spins that she can hit with, she often baits opponents to press their luck on the wrong shot.
For her career, Chwalinska is 70-44 on hard courts and she went 19-10 on the surface last year. Overall, in 2024, the Pole had impressive 48-21 record.
And Chwalinska has a very manageable first-round draw in Jule Niemeier. While Niemeier won their juniors meeting (French Open 2017), Chwalinska took Niemeier down on a hard court in the 2023 Grodzisk Mazowiecki Challenger. So, that will give the Pole some confidence.
Niemeier is not the most fit player and can start to slow down physically in longer matches, especially ones with lung-busting rallies. So, Chwalinska, if she can work the ball around the court, keep the ball out of the German's strike zone and become a wall from the baseline, will have a very good shot of winning the match.
And with either fellow qualifier Nao Hibino or the hot-and-cold Marta Kostyuk in the second round, Chwalinska can certainly dream big.
3. Viktorija Golubic
I'm stepping away from talking up younger players and am ready to laud a vet who deserves praise for her play both in the latter stages of 2024 and into 2025: Viktorija Golubic.
Dating back to 2024, Golubic is currently on a 15-match winning streak. This includes winning the WTA 250 in Jiujiang (hard) and the WTA Challenger in Limoges (indoor hard).
And, now, Golubic has raced through Australian Open qualifying without losing a set. The 32 year-old vet beat Anastasiia Sobolieva, Laura Pigossi, and Sachia Vickery to reach the main draw.
While this wasn't the toughest road to qualify, what was impressive is Golubic's manner of victory. In each of the three of her three qualifying matches, the Swiss broke at least five times and won over 50% of her return points.
Golubic is traditionally a good hard-court player, with a 271-151 record on hard as a professional. In 2024, the Swiss went 22-11 on hard courts, by far her best performance on any surface last season.
So, what makes Golubic so dangerous? She has such a varied, tactical approach to tennis that leaves opponents flabbergasted and out of ideas.
Golubic hits her spots on serve and can hit with power from her forehands. Her inside-out forehand is particularly potent.
However, what makes Golubic more dangerous than your average player is the variety she can employ at will. The 32 year old's backhand slice is among the best on the WTA Tour, as Golubic manipulates it around the court with such ease and with such intense spin that her opponents find it extremely difficult to attack.
Golubic hits crisp volleys and has excellent touch on her shots. But, more than that, she understands point construction and the right shots to hit at the right moments. She doesn't overhit at the wrong moments, rather staying calm, working the points, and waiting for the right moments to strike.
While Elise Mertens isn't the easiest first-round matchup, Mertens has had a long week in Hobart, as she's currently in the final, and then she has a quick turnaround for this first-round showdown in Melbourne.
And though, No. 7 seed Jessica Pegula will likely be waiting in the second round, Pegula is having a long week herself, as the American is currently in the Adelaide final.
4. Destanee Aiava
While Destanee Aiava might seem like a "random" name to include on this list, this is actually the second Slam in a row that the Aussie has qualified for. And across those six 2024 US Open and Australian Open qualifying matches, she's dropped just one set.
And, in Australian Open qualifying, specifically, Aiava's draw was tough. She had to beat Ana Bogdan, Panna Udvardy, and Eva Lys to advance to the main draw in Melbourne.
While Aiava is known to have a huge first serve (she was only broken six times across her three qualifying matches), she was pummeling the ball on return during qualifying, as well. The Aussie held Bogdan and Udvardy to under 45% of their second serves won and Lys won less than 60% of her first serves.
Aiava gives players no rhythm in her matches. Huge serves, serve plus one's, crushing returns, first-strike tennis all play into Aiava's wheelhouse. These attributes also make it difficult for her opposition to gain a foothold in her matches.
Now, when Aiava is off, she can be an erratic mess from the ground. However, that has been happening less frequently in recent months.
Since the beginning of October, the 24 year old has won the $35k Cairns 2 event (hard) and is currently on an eight-match winning streak. To close out last season, Aiava took home the winner's trophy in the Brisbane ITF $50k tournament (hard).
For her career, Aiava is 192-113 on hard courts and she went an impressive 38-19 last season. Clearly, especially as of lately, the Aussie is not a player you want to see in your area of the draw.
However, this is exactly what Greet Minnen will have to contend with. Minnen is a fine player, she has a decent attacking game, can flatten out her groundstrokes and hit crisp volleys at the net. However, she's far from unbeatable and there's a good chance that Aiava forces her out of her comfort zone, on defense, where she's far less potent.
And, even though she's likely to face No. 10 seed Danielle Collins, the American is on a six-match losing streak right now and has looked very mortal since her run to the quarterfinals of the Olympics (clay).
5. Kimberly Birrell
Kimberly Birrell has had a terrific start to her 2025 campaign. While Birrell did make the final of Osaka's WTA 250 in October of last season, she had mixed results to finish off her 2024 season.
However, the Aussie has exploded to start 2025. Birrell is 6-1 to begin the season, including a quarterfinals appearance at the WTA 500 in Brisbane. During her Brisbane campaign, Birrell defeated impressive players such as Emma Navarro and Anastasia Potapova.
Then, in Australian Open qualifying, the 26 year old battled past Sara Saito, Priscilla Hon, and Oksana Selekhmeteva to reach the main draw. Birrell held each opponent to under 50% of their second serves won and won over 50% of her net points in every qualifying match.
Birrell doesn't do anything special out there, but she does the little things well. She has good footwork, strong rally tolerance, and places her groundstrokes fairly well. She anticipates where her opponents are going with their shots and counterpunches effectively.
The Aussie's point construction is strong and she has a high tennis IQ. In addition, as evidenced by her net play in qualifying, she understands the right times to move forward and successfully puts balls away at the net.
Birrell's uptick in recent form is encouraging, given she went just 23-25 on hard courts last year. However, it must be said, the 26 year old does have a solid 169-134 mark on the surface as a professional.
Birrell does have a stern test in the first round of the Australian Open in No. 13 seed Anna Kalinskaya. With that said, Kalinskaya hasn't won a set in either of her two matches to start the season. And, in her last match against Belinda Bencic, the Russian even retired during the second set against the Swiss.
And, in her next match, Birrell would get either Varvara Gracheva or Caty McNally. That's another winnable match, regardless of opponent, for the Aussie.
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So, that's my list! While I would have loved to include promising players such as Anca Todoni and Sijia Wei, unfortunately, their first round opponents (Qinwen Zheng and Jasmine Paolini, respectively) are just too tough for me to include them in this type of article.
What do you all think? Anyone I missed? Do you disagree with any of my selections? Please let me know!
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