Australian Open 2025 is underway – which means it's time to figure out the best (and possibly cheapest) way to watch live tennis from Melbourne from 12–26 January.
The first Grand Slam tournament of 2025 featuring defending champion Jannik Sinner is expected to be watched by a global TV audience of 25 million, with over one million fans through the gates over three weeks.
Tennis fans can watch the Australian Open for free on the local 9Now streaming service, and on major sports networks such ESPN and Eurosport, as well as via their respective apps.
Ready to see the world's greatest tennis players on court? Stick with us for all the latest on the Australian Open including the draw, start times and highlights...
Watching Australian Open 2025: the essentials
- Date: Sun, Jan 12 – Sun, Jan 26
- Start time: 2pm ET / 7pm GMT
- US: ESPN via Sling/Fubo
- UK: Eurosport, Discovery+
- 🇦🇺 FREE: 9Now (watch in Australia)
- 📺 Our FULL GUIDE to Australian Open live streams
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Who won last year's Australian Open?
Jannik Sinner won the first major of what promises to be a storied career 12 months ago, coming from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in the final. Sinner became the first Italian, male or female, to win the Australian Open.
Aryna Sabalenka retained her women’s singles title, overwhelming Zheng Qinwen for the loss of just five games in the final. Both Sabalenka and Sinner went on to win the US Open, to take both Grand Slam titles held on hard courts last season.
Where is the Australian Open 2025 being played?
Melbourne Park will again play host to the Australian Open in 2025, just as it has done since the venue first opened for the 1988 tournament.
Previously played on grass, the Aussie Open has been a hard-court tournament since its move to Melbourne Park 37 years ago. The Rod Laver Arena, the site’s biggest stadium and venue for each day’s biggest matches, holds up to 15,000 people, with the John Cain and Margaret Court Arenas able to accommodate 10,500 and 7,500 spectators respectively. Each has retractable roofs.
When does the order of play land each day?
Set your watches for 6pm AEDT / 2am ET / 11pm PT (-1 day) / 7am GMT for details of the schedule for the following day’s play.
Remember, there’s no set time limit for a tennis match, so you’ll need to keep an eye on how matches progress before your favorite player will make it onto court.
Will AI be calling the lines at the Australian Open 2025?
It’s not necessarily AI, but electronic line judges will again be in use at Melbourne Park. Back in 2021, the Australian Open became the first Grand Slam to employ technology on every court to call the lines and do away with human line judges for good.
Each match will still have the regular chair umpire, while players continue to have three challenges per set (plus a fourth in the event of a tiebreak) to dispute a contentious call, using Hawk-Eye technology.
Can I watch the Australian Open 2025 for FREE?
You can watch the Australian Open 2025 for free with English-language commentary on the 9Now streaming service in Australia.
9Now will be showing over 300 hours of live AO tennis (not to mention every upomcing Grand Slam), so it's a great option for those who don't want to pay to watch the tennis Down Under.
In the US, there's also the option of signing up for a 7-day free trial to the Tennis Channel to catch some of the tournament. Subscriptions cost $10.99 a month or $109.99 a year when the trial ends.
🌎 Abroad right now? You’ll need a VPN to unblock your usual stream when traveling. NordVPN is available with a risk-free trial for 30 days.
Australian Open 2025 schedule
The tournament takes place every day from midnight UK time (7pm ET) each day on the outside courts and 1am (8pm ET) on the show courts.
- Jan 12-14 – First Round (Women and Men)
- Jan 15-16 – Second Round (Women and Men)
- Jan 17-18 – Third Round (Women and Men)
- Jan 19-20 – Fourth Round (Women and Men)
- Jan 21-22 – Quarter-finals (Women and Men)
- Jan 23 – Women's semi-finals
- Jan 24 – Men's semi-finals
- Jan 25 – Women's final (8.30am GMT / 3.30am ET)
- Jan 26 – Men's final (8.30am GMT / 3.30am ET)
Which player should I watch on Day 1?
Aryna Sabalenka vs Sloane Stephens is the biggest match of the Australian Open 2025’s opening day, with the two-time defending champion facing the former major winner first up in the night session on Rod Laver Arena at 7pm AEDT / 3am ET / 12am PT / 8am GMT.
Big-hitting French wild card Lucas Pouille faces men’s second Alexander Zverev immediately afterwards.
Elsewhere, Aussie wild card Li Tu will look to get the home crowd in his favor as he faces 24th side Jiri Lehecka in the first match of the night session on Margaret Court Arena (same times as above). Earlier in the day, sixth seed Casper Ruud takes on Jaume Munar in what could be fascinating encounter, second on Laver.
What's happened so far at the Australian Open 2025?
Local battler Destanee Aiava has been the undoubted star of qualifying. One of the 16 players to make it through to the women’s main draw after four gruelling rounds, the 24-year-old drew plenty of praise for her performances, plus sartorial points for old-school outfits first made famous by Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic she had sourced second-hand from online retailers.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go so well for fellow Aussie, 16-year-old Cruz Hewitt – son of former world number one Lleyton – who lost in the opening round of qualifying. Rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca reached the main draw of a major for the first time, while Hady Habib will become the first Lebanese male player in the Open era to appear in a Grand Slam men's singles main draw after saving three match points in his final round.
On Rod Laver Arena, Brit hopeful Emma Raducanu beat 2022 Wimbledon Elena Rybakina in a competitive practice set to prove her credentials, while Andy Murray has been running the rule over new charge Novak Djokovic in similar conditions, the Serbian besting Carlos Alcaraz 7-5.
How has the Djokovic-Murray coaching team looked?
Pretty good. The recently retired Scot admitted to being surprised at his former foe asking him to join the Serbian’s coaching team, but the pair have always been friendly off court and grew up together – they were, after all, born seven days apart.
Murray was recently asked how he’d deal with Djokovic’s frequent outbursts directed at his own player’s box.
“I would think that I’d be one of the people that would maybe hopefully understand that side of things,” said Murray, whose ire was often directed to his nearest and dearest in his career. “I know it’s not easy out there, and it’s stressful, and at times he’s going to want to vent towards his team and his box. Provided that he’s giving his best effort and trying as hard as he can, I’m absolutely fine with him expressing himself how he wants.”
Day 3: Aussies, Americans and a teen sensation...
Lots of all-American match-ups coming your way! First up, eighth seed Emma Navarro faces Peyton Stearns at the Rod Laver Arena.
Then world No.4 Taylor Fritz opens his AO 2025 account with a match against Jenson Brooksby on the John Cain Arena.
Over on the Margaret Court Arena, 16-year-old wild card Emerson Jones will face No.6 seed Elena Rybakina. A daunting task for the Wimbledon junior finalist.
Daniil Medvedev and Lorenzo Musetti will also be action on Day 3 of the Australian Open, so make sure you know how to watch it live – from anywhere in the world.
Day 4: More Djokovic-Murray chats and can Habib make more history?
Novak Djokovic's era with Andy Murray in his coaching corner extends to a second match, as the 10-time Australian Open champion faces Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria second on Rod Laver Arena in Wednesday's day session.
Aryna Sabalenka is first up on the show court as the two-time defending women's champion takes on Jessican Bouzas Maneiro. Game of the day could be third seed Coco Gauff against resurgent Jodie Burrage, one of a record six Brits in the second round at Melbourne Park.
In the last match on John Cain, home favorite Thanasi Kokkinakis takes on 15th seed Jack Draper eyeing an upset after the latter went five sets in the first round.
Carlos Alcaraz and Paula Badosa will also be action on Day 4 of the Australian Open, so make sure you know how to watch it live – from anywhere in the world.
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