SPECIAL EPISODE: The Australian Open Draw Show
Can you beat Andy and JW in Served's Bracket Challenge?
With T-minus 36 hours until first ball in Melbourne, Andy and JW have made their picks—all 254 of them.
Watch as the Served hosts analyze the draw in real time, share exclusive insights, make some bold predictions—and disagree on both winners.
Then head over to our Bracket Challenge to fill out your draw sheets and try to beat the boys. The time, we integrated head-to-heads and recent match results to help you out. Produce Mike explains the revamped rules at the top of the show.
There’s plenty of tennis to watch this weekend between four tour finals and an exhibition for the ages in Melbourne. It’s all in this edition of Served.
Women’s Draw Preview
When did Andy start calling Aryna Sabalenka “Saba?” Some time since the World No. 1 and top seed made the last three finals in Melbourne and left with two titles. She has won 20 of her last 21 matches at the Australian Open. Is it hers to lose?
Andy and JW predict few surprises but disagree on the last frame, with one of them picking a first-time Australian Open champion.
Men’s Draw Preview
Carlos Alcaraz enters the only Slam he hasn’t won as the top seed. How will the recent coaching drama affect him? Will Jannik Sinner make it a hat trick? Both players made the final of the last three Slams, but one of them falls short in JW’s draw, and it’s not at the hands of Novak Djokovic.
Andy picks a controversial upset in Round 1 just so he can say “quad squad,” and JW explains his qualms about Lorenzo Musetti in terms of Italian cheese.
“If you want to see some drama and someone just talking insane amounts of shit, watch [Corentin] Moutet play the local Aussie [Tristan] Schoolkate. The Aussies will be all over Moutet, and he will not have it in his body to ignore them. He will be blowing kisses, giving people the finger. If you want to see WWE, go to that match.” —Andy
🍿 First-Round Matches
Sebastian Korda vs. Michael Zheng: Upset alert—Zheng is the reigning NCAA men’s singles champion, and he won two Challengers last fall and came through qualifying in Melbourne. Winning breeds confidence.
Mirra Andreeva vs. Donna Vekic: Quarterfinal quality.
Alexander Bublik vs. Jenson Brooksby: Another upset alert? JW calls it, Andy is sticking with the recent Hong Kong winner.
Victoria Mboko vs. Emerson Jones: Hype vs. (Australian) hype.
Alex de Minaur vs. Matteo Berrettini: They split their two hard-court matches last year.
Sloane Stephens vs. Karolina Pliskova: By qualifying, Stephens snapped a 13-match losing streak extending back to 2024. That’s also when her opponent, former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, played her most recent tour match.
Zizou Bergs vs. Hubert Hurkacz: Both are coming off United Cup glory.
What to Watch This Weekend
The Battle of the No. 1s. Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt take the court Saturday night for a flashback finale to Opening Week.
Adelaide, Auckland and Hobart Finals. The finals of all three tour events air Saturday. It’s Ugo Humbert vs. Tomas Machac in Adelaide, Jakub Mensik vs. Sebastian Baez in Auckland, Mirra Andreeva vs. Victoria Mboko in Adelaide and Iva Jovic vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto in Hobart.
Rewind: The 1 Point Slam. This sudden-death pro-am event was the runaway hit of Opening Week. Amateur club pro Jordan Smith took out Jannik Sinner (who faulted the point away) and Amanda Anisimova (who sailed the return long) on his way to the $1 million prize. Andy gives his take in the new episode, while Love All co-host Blair Henley has a behind-the-scenes report below. You can watch the whole 1 Point Slam or just Smith’s run on YouTube.
Quick Hits
Federer’s back: The champ was the toast of Opening Week the minute he landed in Melbourne this week. At a press conference, he said he didn’t think he had a prayer of winning the 2017 title after a six-month injury layoff, and he hopes Joao Fonseca is thinking bigger than merely challenging Sinner and Alcaraz:
“You don’t want to be the third guy, you want to be the guy. I hope he has that mindset, to be honest,” Roger Federer said Thursday at the Australian Open.
Teenagers Mirra Andreeva, Victoria Mboko and Iva Jovic come into Melbourne with momentum after reaching the finals of tune-up tournaments this weekend.
Qualies high point: Aussie couple Maddison Inglis and Jason Kubler, newly engaged, qualified within an hour of each other. Honeymoon fund secured.
Qualies low point: The dreaded premature exhilaration. ⬇️
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Just listened to the draw show. Loved the new points system. Quick comment on men's final picks of JW and Andy being both Jannik: I think it is worth to note that Carlos said his no.1 goal this year is the AO trophy -to complete his career slam- He even said that he'd trade 2 slam trophies for 1 AO in 2026. Also, at a trophy ceremony end of last year he asked Jannik whether he would be ready at AO to face him cause he will be ready. So, CA is extremely motivated and cannot be underestimated even though JS seems the favorite on hard court slams.
New rule: Mike’s not allowed to threaten to quit. My heart skipped a beat!
Also: I continue to love Mike and Shawn / Sean representing the everyday fan, not the experts! It is a key element to the depth of enjoyment of the show.