The 2025 edition of the Australian Open saw some incredible performances from our local West Aussie talent. Tristan Schoolkate and Talia Gibson advanced to the second round of the singles draw while John Peers won the Mixed Doubles final. See all the results from all WA players:
Tristan Schoolkate
Second Round Men’s Singles
Second Round Men’s Doubles
Schoolkate received a wildcard to the main draw of the men’s singles and came up against Taro Daniel in round one, defeating Taro Daniel in four sets 6-7 7-6 6-1 6-4. Schoolkate then faced up against world No.1 Jannik Sinner on Rod Laver Arena.
Sinner had his run of 29 consecutive sets won snapped by the 173rd-ranked wildcard but recovered to advance with a 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-3 victory over Schoolkate. Schoolkate broke to love in the decisive game of the first set and held his own serve until Sinner converted his first break point of the match in the seventh game of the second set.
“I saw a stat after the match that that was the first set in 20-something sets in a row for him,” Schoolkate said. “That was obviously a pretty good feeling grabbing the first.”
Sinner ultimately took over, with the two-time major winner’s class shining through as he dominated the third and fourth sets.
“It’s obviously the reason he’s at the top of his game, that he could hold his level for longer in that match. He sort of ran away with it a bit,” Schoolkate observed.
“From the third set he lifted his level a little bit, and maybe I dropped off a bit.”
Despite the loss, Schoolkate has risen to 145th in the ATP live rankings and for the second straight Grand Slam tournament has reached the second round.
In his Australian Open main-draw debut, this marked his first appearance at Rod Laver Arena.
“Definitely something I won’t forget,” Schoolkate said.
“The first hour was probably the most enjoyable hour of tennis I have had in my career.
“Week in, week out on the tour I’m usually not playing in front of too many people. It was pretty cool to have the whole arena screaming my name.”
Schoolkate also teamed up with fellow Aussie Adam Walton as wildcards in the men’s doubles but succumbed to Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram 6-2 6-4 in the second round.
Talia Gibson
Second Round Women’s Singles
First Round Women’s Doubles
Gibson received a wildcard entry into the Australian Open off the back of a successful 2024 season. In her first Grand Slam appearance, Gibson came from a set down to secure a maiden Grand Slam victory against world No.94 Zeynep Sonmez 3-6 7-6 6-1.
“Super excited to get my first win here in the main draw,” Gibson said about the come-from-behind victory. “Super grateful to Tennis Australia [for the opportunity to play main draw] and very happy with what I was able to bring to the court.”
The Aussie has improved her game immensely since her last bid at Grand Slam success two years ago. The 20-year-old finished 2024 on a high, winning three Pro Tour titles in the space of a month.
“I think I have certainly made a lot of huge developments in lots of different parts of my game,” she said about her improvement since losing in the first round at Australian Open 2023. “I think the last couple of months definitely got a lot of confidence from how I was doing in some tournaments.”
In the second round, Gibson came up against a strong Paula Badosa who ended up making the semifinals in the women’s singles. Badosa was too strong winning in straight sets 6-1 6-0.
Gibson teamed up with fellow Aussie Maya Joint in the women’s doubles but fell short, losing 6-3 6-3 to Leylah Fernandez and Nadiia Kichenok.
John Peers
2nd Round Men’s Doubles
Winner Mixed Doubles
Peers flourished in the Australian Open mixed doubles event making it to the final with Olivia Gadecki. In an Aussies-versus-Kiwis clash at Margaret Court Arena in the semifinal, Gadecki and Peers combined to beat New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Michael Venus in straight sets 6-4 6-4.
Gadecki and Peers, a wildcard pairing, out served the No.2 seeds – winning 81 per cent for their first-serve points – and broke their opponents four times en route to victory in 71 minutes.
“Today was a lot of fun, and playing at home is always so much more special than playing overseas,” Peers said.
In the final, the pair came up against fellow Aussies Kimberly Birrell and John-Patrick Smith. After going down in the first set, Peers and Gadecki fought back to force it to a match tie-break. The pair stood up when it mattered, taking the tie-break 10-6 and winning the mixed doubles title. The grand slam victory was John Peers’ third grand slam doubles title.
Peers teamed up with Jamie Murray in the men’s doubles as the 12th seeds and made it to the second round of the men’s doubles before losing to Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp 7-5 6-2.
Matt Ebden
1st Round Men’s Doubles
Matt Ebden couldn’t quite capture the success of last year’s men’s doubles grand slam win, going down in the first round. Ebden was joined by partner Joran Vliegen as the 9th seed but went down in straight sets to Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram 6-1 6-4.
Taylah Preston
Second Round Women’s Qualifying Singles
First Round Women’s Doubles
First Round Mixed Doubles
After making her debut at a grand slam last year Preston had to do it the hard way this year, going through the women’s qualifying singles. Preston made it through to the second round of qualifying before succumbing to Harriet Dart in a tough three set battle 6-7 6-1 6-2. Dart would go on to reach the second round of the main singles draw.
Taylah Preston also entered both the women’s doubles and mixed doubles as a wildcard with Lizette Cabrera and Edward Winter but couldn’t advance past the first round in both events.
Maddison Inglis
Final Round Women’s Qualifying Singles
First Round Women’s Doubles
First Round Mixed Doubles
Maddison Inglis became so close to making it to the main draw of the Australian Open for the first time since 2022. Inglis made it to the final round of the qualifying singles with impressive wins of Jacquemot and fifth seed Sorribes Tormo where she came from a set down to advance to the final round, however, after taking the first set off Argentinian Julia Riera, Inglis couldn’t back it up losing in three sets.
Inglis teamed up with Destanee Aiava in the women’s doubles but lost in straight sets to Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-4 7-6 and teamed up with partner Jason Kubler but lost in straight sets in the first round to Taylor Townsend and Hugo Nys in the mixed doubles.
Astra Sharma
Second Round Women’s Qualifying Singles
Like, Preston and Inglis, Astra Sharma also had to go through qualifying in a bid to reach the main draw for the fifth time in her career.
Sharma advanced to the second round after a come from behind win over Mai Hontama 3-6 6-3 6-4 but lost in three sets to Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-3 2-6 6-4.
Jake Dembo
First Round Junior Boy’s Singles
First Round Junior Boy’s Doubles
Up and coming youngster Jake Dembo received a wildcard into the junior boy’s singles competition and took on Pierluigi Basile. The match could have gone either way with Dembo taking out the first set in a tiebreaker, however the Italian was too strong winning in three sets 6-7 7-6 6-1. Dembo also played in the doubles with fellow Aussie Rohan Hazratwala but lost in straight sets.
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