“Tennis needs an Opening Day,” was one of the suggestions that used to pop up regularly when fans or writers were asked for ideas on how to raise the sport’s profile. The season, the thinking went, began too inconspicuously, with a few mid-level Australian Open warm-up events and the Hopman Cup exo in distant Perth. The game needed a way to announce that it was back, with suitable star-power and fanfare.
There is still no official Opening Day, but in 2025 it felt like we did have a proper Opening Week. Credit for much of that goes to United Cup, the team tournament that the ATP, WTA and Tennis Australia welded together three years ago. As a way to announce the arrival of a new season, and highlight the game’s dual-gender appeal, getting star players to team up and compete for their countries makes sense. This year, the final between the U.S. and Poland in Sydney brought us a bonus: A spicy—or icy, to be more precise—moment between two WTA stars that might last well into the season ahead.
But there was more than just the United Cup this week. There were comebacks and debuts, injuries and heartbreaks to follow in Brisbane, Auckland, and Hong Kong as well. Here’s a look at five of the week’s major developments, counted down in order of importance.
