3 winners (and 2 losers) from 2025 Australian Open

The first Grand Slam of 2025 is done, and we learned a few things along the way. One is that Jannik Sinner is far and above the rest of the players on the ATP tour. OK, maybe we already knew that, but he re-enforced the thought.

Sinner won his third major and second straight Australian Open. His point lead over No. 2 Alexander Zverev is close to 4,000 points. The Italian is going to remain No. 1 for a long time unless he gets suspended for failing two drug tests last March. Still, Sinner is not among the winners and losers from the tournament; he simply did what everyone expected him to.

Aryna Sabalenka is also not listed below. She did not three-peat in Melbourne, but she still made the final. She also handled her loss with poise.

Winners and losers from the 2025 Australian Open

Winner: American tennis

We will talk more about Madison Keys in just a second as she should have her own category for winning her first major. The huge win for American tennis was that the women now have three players ranked in the top seven of the WTA, and three made it to at least the quarterfinals. The men now have two players (Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul) ranked inside the top 10 and Ben Shelton is up to 14.

Plus, 19-year-old Learner Tien made a surprise run and moved up 41 spots in the live ATP rankings. 20-year-old Alex Michelsen will be ranked inside the top 40 when the rankings are officially announced on Monday. American tennis is trending upward, and for the first time in a long time, that includes the men's side.

Plus, Taylor Townsend helped win the women's doubles title. It was a good two weeks.

Loser: The Australian media and fans

What a mess the Aussie media made of the tournament. That had complaints all around. Commentator Toby Jones made a name for himself by making ridiculous comments about Novak Djokovic (he said the Serb was washed up), so Djokovic stopped speaking with NINE, the official broadcaster of the tournament in Australia.

Ben Shelton thought the way the on-court interviews were being handled was unprofessional and silly. He specifically talked about the interview given to Tien after he defeated Daniil Medvedev, which gave Tien no chance to give good answers.

Winner: Gael Monfils

Monfils is well past the age when most players retire, but he has had a tremendous run to begin 2025. He won the ASB Classic, and he reached the fourth round in Melbourne before being forced to retire with an injury. In the third round, he defeated Taylor Fritz. He still moves brilliantly and is playing like he knows the end is near, and he is making the most of what is left.

Loser: Daniil Medvedev

Medvedev is the most successful player of his generation as he was once ranked No. 1 and he won a Grand Slam. This is unlike contemporaries Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, neither of whom has done either of those things. But the Russian does seem to slowly be losing ground to the players ranked above him.

He is good enough to make deep runs in tournaments but not good enough to actually win majors. In 2024, he made it past the quarterfinals of only two Masters 1000s. He will now be ranked No. 7 after losing in the second round to Tien, the lowest he has been ranked since February 2023.

Winner: Madison Keys

Keys has battled for more than a decade to win her first major. She was a bit of a prodigy as a teenager, but she never reached the level of the high expectations set for her. She also appeared to have been passed by fellow Americans Coco Gauff, Emma Navarro, and Jessica Pegula. Then Keys made a shocking run at the 2025 Australian Open.

On her way to winning the major, she defeated Elena Rybakina, No. 2 Iga Swiatek, and No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. She won the title the hard way. She will move up to No. 7 when the WTA rankings come out on Monday, and that will tie her career-best.