ASB Classic 2025: What We Learned

Sunday, 12 January 2025, 6:21 pm
Article: RNZ

Jamie Wall, Digital Sports Journalist

Once again, New Zealand's all too brief summer of international pro tennis is over, but this year's edition of the ASB Classic produced far more storylines than a usual fortnight would yield. Here's a look at the highlights, lowlights and everything in between:

Osaka's run

It was great to see the fascinating Naomi Osaka make it all the way to the women's singles final, not so great when she had to pull out after winning the first set 6-4.

The former world number one was in tears when she made the call to quit, handing the championship to a slightly bemused Clara Tauson.

However, it's fair to say that up till that point Tauson had very much earned it, having to play two matches in a day and beating top seed Madison Keys in one of them.

Lulu Sun goes down early

Before the tournament it was assumed that Sun, who switched her allegiance to her country of birth last year, would make at least a deep run and possibly win the whole thing. So it was extremely deflating when she was knocked out in the first round by Canadian Rebecca Marino.

It's most certainly a blip for the world number 40, who admittedly has bigger fish to fry this as we anticipate the first Grand Slam of the year. But hopefully it will ignite a desire in Sun to return next year and make up for it.

Meanwhile, Auckland-raised Cam Norrie unfortunately put on one of the most disappointing matches of his career in a straight sets first round loss to qualifier Facundo Diaz Acosta.

Centre court experience

Only one Kiwi participated in the men's singles and only made it as far as Sun did, however at least Wellington's Isaac Becroft had the excuse of being over 900 ranking places lower than his opponent.

Becroft had the crowd behind him all the way and forced eventual finalist Zizou Bergs to shift a couple of gears higher than he probably would've liked, but ultimately the difference in experience is what told in the 6-3 7-5 result.

In and out for Emma

While Sun and a host of men's players were knocked out early, at least they took the court. Unfortunately big drawcards Emma Raducanu and Elise Mertens didn't even make it that far, citing injury concerns.

That's always going to be a risk a week out from the Australian Open and they're certainly not the first to do so, but it is a bit disappointing when their faces are all over the promotional material and all they end up doing is a couple of practise sessions.

Seeds drop like flies

All four top seeds in the men's singles were given first round byes and then all four promptly lost their second round matches.

Defending champ Alejandro Tabilo, Sebastian Baez, Francisco Cerundolo and Ben Shelton all found themselves booking flights to Melbourne early, but at least Shelton went out in a fantastic match against Jakub Menšík.

Both men slammed down unreturnable serves all night, it was just a shame that there was clearly something up with the speed gun as its readings seemed to vary wildly.

Monfils saves the day

With the women's final a fizzer, it was definitely a welcome sight to see Gaël Monfils on centre court for the entire duration of his 6-3 6-4 win over Bergs in the men's final.

OK, it wasn't exactly an instant classic but the star power and popularity that Monfils brought was much-needed after last year's final featured two low profile players.

It's also a testament to looking after your body - Monfils became the oldest man to ever win an ATP tournament and did so by managing his fatigue very effectively.

The future

While the carnage in the second week probably said more about the level of competition in men's tennis right now, the resurgence of the Brisbane International tournament and pulling power of the United Cup will most certainly pose issues with drawing women's talent next year.

Both are WTA 500 events while Auckland is a 250, meaning twice as many ranking points and prize money are on offer across the ditch.

A roof?

After years of talking about it, the prospect of the Auckland Tennis Centre getting a roof may actually be a reality.

Tennis Auckland chief executive Rohan West confirmed that funding is being sourced to do a substantial redevelopment on the venue.

West hopes that it will be completed in time for the 2027 tournament, so watch this space.

© Scoop Media

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