Three to See: Can Gael Monfils and Danielle Collins keep up the Australian Open fireworks?

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

Taylor Fritz vs. Gael Monfils

As a Top 4 seed and someone who has become a regular in Grand Slam second weeks, Fritz may have believed he wouldn’t have too much to worry about in the early going in Australia. Now, it seems, he does. At 38, Monfils is playing inspired tennis. He won a title last week in Auckland, and survived five sets with the much-younger Frenchman, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. A confident and focused Monfils remains a danger to just about anyone.

Fritz has obviously seen plenty of him, but he hasn’t gone up against him in six years. Monfils won their only previous contest, in four close sets, at this tournament in 2019. If anything, though, Fritz has looked even better than La Monf so far in 2025. He helped the U.S. to a win in United Cup, and has dropped just eight games in two matches at the AO.

“I’m super happy with how I played through my first two rounds,” Fritz says.

Fritz has gradually been going deeper at the majors for the past two years, and the confidence has has gained seems embedded in him now. Monfils won’t make it easy: He’ll have the crowd, and he’ll do things on the court that the American won’t be able to counter. But from his serve to his ground strokes to his calm in the clutch, Fritz is a formidable force in best-of-five these days, even against a fan favorite on a hot streak. Winner: Fritz

Danielle Collins vs. Madison Keys

First question: When will the boos begin for Danielle Collins in this one? When her name is announced? The American is persona non grata among the locals at the moment. As you may have heard, in her second-round match with Australia’s Destanee Aiava, Collins sarcastically thanked the hostile crowd for “paying my bills” and my “big fat pay check.” Nick Kyrgios must be jealous of her chutzpah.

“I loved it,” she said of the crowd reaction in that match. “I’ve been doing this my whole life. I love playing in a crowd that has energy,regardless of what side they’re on. I’m somebody, too, it kind of just motivates me even more.”

Read More: Quote of the Day: How about that?! Danielle Collins has a back-and-forth with booing Australian Open crowd

That said, the atmosphere may not be quite be the same for this one, when she’s facing a fellow American rather than a home-country favorite. Collins, 31, says she and Keys, 29, “were pen pals when we were 10 years old” and have “played so many matches against each other.” But only three of them have come in the pros. Keys has won the two most recent, including a 6-1, 6-2 blowout last spring on clay in Strasbourg.

Both women like hard courts, especially Australian hard courts. Keys is a two-time semifinalist in Melbourne, and is coming off a title run in Adelaide. Collins made the AO final in 2022. Both women hit as hard as they, as often as they can. Keys loves to let loose with her forehand, the same way Collins loves to step into a crosscourt backhand. Keys has the better serve and the higher upside, but she’s also streakier. While she has been playing well, you never know when her hot streaks are going to end, or start up again.

I’ll take Collins, in part because she has her dander up, and she’ll have a crowd to fight. Winner: Collins

Iga Swiatek vs. Emma Raducanu

Swiatek won her first major title at 19, in Paris in 2020. Raducanu won her first at 18, in New York in 2021. Since then, their paths have diverged. The Pole has followed up with four more Slam wins and risen to No. 1. The Brits hasn’t won another title of any sort, and is currently ranked 61st.

They’ve played three times, and perhaps not surprisingly, Swiatek hasn’t dropped a set. But in their last meeting, on clay in Stuttgart last spring, Raducanu push the first set to a tiebreaker. Now the 22-year-old seems to be playing even better, having knocked off Ekaterina Alexandrova and Amanda Anisimova, both fairly lethal ball-strikers, in straight sets in her first two rounds.

Swiatek, of course, is at another level altogether, and her superior power and athleticism will give her the edge in the baseline rallies. We may know the tale of this one early. When Swiatek gets an early break, she’s liable to bolt the barn and roll to a quick and humiliating victory. Can Raducanu keep it close enough in the early going, and keep Swiatek a little edge? If so, it might be anyone’s match. Winner: Swiatek