Wimbledon first round preview: De Minaur and Kasatkina lead Aussie charge

Wimbledon 2025 gets underway on Monday and there are a number of Australian players hoping to make a successful start to their campaigns at SW19, including Alex de Minaur and rising star Maya Joint.

De Minaur, who has reached the quarter-finals in four of his last five Grand Slams, opens up against Spaniard Roberto Carballés Baena and could go on to meet fellow Aussie Adam Walton in round two.

In the women's draw new Australian number one Daria Kastakina could face the emerging talent of Joint in round three if both players make it that far, while Kimberly Birrell takes on 2024 Wimbledon semi-finalist and also Olympic silver medallist Donna Vekic in round one.

De Minaur spearheads men's challenge

Alex de Minaur remains very much the big hope for Australian success in the men's draw and he is as short as 1.005 to defeat Roberto Carballés Baena and set up a potential showdown with compatriot Adam Walton, who is 2.37 to defeat Frenchman Arthur Cazaux.

Eleventh seed De Minaur saw his SW19 hopes ruined by injury 12 months ago as he was forced to pull out of a quarter-final match-up with Novak Djokovic and the Aussie number one is drawn to face the seven-time champion in the fourth round this time around.

ADM is joined among the seeds by Alexei Popyrin, who opens up against British wildcard Arthur Fery, with the 20th seed - who ousted Djokovic at the US Open last year - 1.20 to make safe passage into round two.

Qualifier Alex Bolt and Rinky Hijikata have been drawn to meet in the second round, but both face tough openers at SW19, with Bolt 4.00 to spring a major shock against 10th seed Ben Shelton and Hijikata 1.57 to defeat wily Belgian veteran David Goffin.

There are four other Australian men in the field, with Aleksandar Vukic taking on Tseng Chun-hsin, who has yet to win a singles match at a Grand Slam, while qualifier James McCabe faces Fábián Marozsán - who lost in the Wimbledon first round in both 2023 and 2024.

Jordan Thompson will probably fancy his chances against Czech Vít Kopřiva, with the Aussie having won at least his opening match on each of his last four visits to Wimbledon.

The final Aussie man in action is Christopher O'Connell, who is 3.00 to get the better of veteran French left-hander Adrian Mannarino.

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Kasatkina offers genuine hope

Australian representation in the women's draw is up to a respectable seven after dropping well below that mark 12 months ago and there are two genuine contenders to make a deep run in the tournament.

New Aussie number one and 16th seed Daria Kasatkina is 1.14 to safely negotiate an opener against Colombian Emiliana Arango, with the 2018 SW19 quarter-finalist potentially set to face compatriot Maya Joint in round three.

Joint has enjoyed a superb season todat and, although she is a 2.50 outsider to defeat 19th seed Liudmila Samsonova in the first round, the Morocco Open and Eastbourne Open champion will no doubt be confident of causing an upset.

Kimberly Birrell has been handed as tough an opener as Joint as she takes on 2024 Wimbledon semi-finalist and Olympic silver medallist Donna Vekic, with the Aussie 2.30 to beat the 1.61 Croat.

Qualifier Talia Gibson will no doubt relish her Wimbledon main draw debut when she takes to the court against four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who is 1.10 to oust the Aussie, but who has never been beyond round three at SW19.

Priscilla Hon also battled her way through qualifying and has been drawn to face 18th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, while Olivia Gadecki takes on Belgian Greet Minnen.

Alja Tomljanovic completes the Aussie cohort and she has a tasty looking clash with 2016 quarter-finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in round one.

Russian Pavlyuchenkova also made the quarters at the Australian Open earlier this year to signal a return to form and she is 1.80 to get the better of 2.00 Tomljanovic.

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.