Emma Raducanu, 22, and Amanda Anisimova, 23, have already had a careers worth of highs and lows

Before each day's play in Melbourne, we'll preview three must-see matches.

Amanda Anisimova vs. Emma Raducanu

Call this the “I can’t believe they’re still so young” bowl. Raducanu and Anisimova are 22 and 23, respectively, but each has already had a career’s worth of highs, lows, injuries, burnout periods and comebacks. That’s what happens when you reach a major semifinal at 17, the way Anisimova did at Roland Garros in 2019, or win one—and then the final—when you’re 18, the way Raducanu did at the US Open in 2021.

Considering how much time these two have spent away from the game, maybe it’s not surprising that they’ve never played each other. In the last two years, Raducanu has had wrist, foot and ankle surgeries, and two weeks ago she had to pull out of Auckland with what she termed a “niggle” in her back. For her part, Anisimova took a six-month break from the tour in 2023, before returning last year and reaching her first WTA 1000 final, in Toronto.

Now, finally, the two are fit and ready at the same time. Keep your fingers crossed neither has to pull out before this match starts.

“I know she’s a big ball-striker,” says Raducanu, who has practiced with Anisimova. “She hits the ball really hard. She likes to dictate, so it’s going to be a big challenge for me.”

Anisimova is a couple of inches taller than Raducanu, and she hits the ball more than a couple of miles an hour faster than her from the ground. Raducanu will have to counter by getting the tall American on the move and out of a stationary hitting position, where she can be lethal.

Both of these women, as their results make obvious, are the definition of streaky. When they’re on, they strike the ball as well as anyone. But each can go off the rails on any given day. Which means this match could run the gamut, quality-wise.

Raducanu looked good in her opening-round win over 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova. But Ansimova has traditionally played well in Melbourne, reaching the fourth round three times. As always, she’ll control her own destiny. Winner: Anisimova

Joao Fonseca vs. Lorenzo Sonego

Will we remember the 2025 Australian Open as the Wow Slam—as in Joao, which is pronounced “Zhu-wow”? The 18-year-old Fonseca set off the biggest first-round fireworks of the tournament when he battered his way past No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev in straight sets, hitting 14 aces and 51 winners (against 32 errors) along the way. It felt like a true star-is-born moment.

That win made it 14 in a row for Fonseca; on Thursday, he’ll try for another against Sonego. Surprisingly, the two have already played, last year on clay in Bucharest, a match Fonseca won in two close sets. Can he do it again, now that the spotlight has found him?

Nothing in his game or personality or recent results says no. Sonego is a gun-slinger with a fierce forehand of his own, but he’s ranked 46 spots lower than Rublev. And when the lights got brighter, and the match got tighter in the first round, Fonseca’s shots only got bolder and better. This doesn’t feel like a wave that has crested quite yet. Winner: Fonseca

Elena Rybakina vs. Iva Jovic

The U.S. pipeline keeps churning out Top 100 players on both tours. At 17, Jovic, a Southern California native of Serbian descent, might be the next. She’s inside the Top 200 now, and appears to be a talent to watch.

Does that mean she’s ready to mix it up with a Top 6 opponent? We’ll find out on Thursday when she plays Rybakina.

It will be a tall order, literally and figuratively. At 5’7”, Jovic will give up five inches to her opponent, who will likely win the lion’s share of free points. But the American should make up for some of that with her excellent forehand, which comes with a drop shot she throws in frequently, and which could be effective in getting Rybakina out of her comfort zone at the baseline.

Rybakina is favored, of course, and surely has higher hopes Down Under than a second-round victory. She also just demolished another teenager, Emerson Jones of Australia, in the first round. But for U.S. fans looking toward the future, Jovic is somebody to get a look at now. Winner: Jovic