Women's tennis fans received a holiday gift on Friday, Dec. 27 when the Australian swing of the 2025 Hologic WTA Tour season kicked off, opening a new year of the world's best traveling the globe.

Six tour-level events and one WTA 125 event will take place over the next month on the outdoor hardcourts of Australia and New Zealand, culminating with the year's first major, the Australian Open. The Dunlop Australian Open ball will be used during the entire Aussie swing.

Here's how last year's trip Down Under on the Hologic WTA Tour shook out:

United Cup (WTA 500): Germany def. Poland 2-1
Brisbane (WTA 500): Elena Rybakina def. Aryna Sabalenka, 6-0, 6-3
Auckland (WTA 250): Coco Gauff def. Elina Svitolina, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3

Adelaide (WTA 500): Jelena Ostapenko def. Daria Kasatkina, 6-3, 6-2
Hobart (WTA 250): Emma Navarro def. Elise Mertens, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5

Australian Open (Grand Slam): Aryna Sabalenka def. Zheng Qinwen, 6-3, 6-2

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Without further ado, here's what's lined up for the 2025 Aussie swing. Week 1 is already in the books:

Week 1: Dec. 27, 2024 - Jan. 5, 2025

United Cup (WTA 500 & ATP 500 mixed-team event)

The United States won their second United Cup title in the three-year history of the event, with Poland finishing runner-up for the second straight year. World No.3 Coco Gauff beat No.2 Iga Swiatek on the final day, just her third win in their 14-match rivalry.

Brisbane International presented by Evie (WTA 500)

World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka started her 2025 season off by triumphing in Brisbane. She had to battle from a set down in the final to hold off qualifier Polina Kudermetova, who was in the first tour-level final of her career.

Champions Corner: Sabalenka remains untouchable on Australian soil

ASB Classic (WTA 250)

In Auckland, New Zealand, Clara Tauson and Naomi Osaka both made long-awaited returns to finals -- it was Osaka's first final since 2022, and Tauson's first since 2021. Tauson won the title after Osaka had to retire from the final due to an abdominal injury.

Workday Canberra International (WTA 125)

The sole WTA 125 event of the Aussie swing was won by 20-year-old Aoi Ito. In the Australian capital city, Ito beat defending champion and No.1 seed Nuria Parrizas Diaz in the semifinals and Wei Sijia in the final.

Week 2: Jan. 6 - Jan. 11

Adelaide International (WTA 500) - main draw starts Monday, Jan. 6

Singles Final: Saturday, Jan. 11, not before 4 p.m.
Doubles Final: Friday, Jan. 10 at 12 noon
Time Zone: Australian Central Daylight Time (GMT +10.5, EST +15.5)

Adelaide: Scores | Schedule | Draws | Draw breakdown

Seeds: (1) Jessica Pegula, (2) Emma Navarro, (3) Daria Kasatkina, (4) Danielle Collins, (5) Paula Badosa, (6) Diana Shnaider, (7) Anna Kalinskaya, (8) Jelena Ostapenko

12 of the Top 20 players in the PIF Rankings will converge upon Adelaide for the sixth edition of the Adelaide International. It will be the last WTA 500 event before this year's Australian Open. More storylines to look out for:

  • Americans comprise three of the Top 4 seeds: Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro and Danielle Collins. They will try to keep The Stars and Stripes aloft following the United States' victory at last week's United Cup.
  • Jelena Ostapenko will return in an attempt to defend her crown, one of two WTA 500 titles she won during Q1 last year. She also grabbed the WTA 500 Linz title in February 2024.
  • Daria Kasatkina has reached Adelaide finals in each of the last two years, and will try to go one better this year. Kasatkina was incredible at WTA 500 events last year: she won two WTA 500 titles and reached four additional WTA 500 finals in 2024.
  • 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova will be playing her first event since a first-round loss in her Wimbledon title defense last summer. In the first round, she will face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who is playing her first event since the 2024 US Open.
  • Also on the comeback trail is new mom Belinda Bencic. The 2021 Olympic gold medalist successfully came through qualies and will play her first tour-level single-elimination main draw since the birth of her child last year.

Adelaide ranking points and prize money
First round: 1 point | $10,190 
Round of 16: 60 points | $15,170
Quarterfinals: 108 points | $27,940
Semifinals: 195 points | $59,100
Finalist: 325 points | $101,000
Champion: 500 points | $164,000

Hobart International (WTA 250) - main draw starts Monday, Jan. 6

Singles Final: Saturday, Jan. 11 at 1 p.m.
Doubles Final: Saturday, Jan. 11, not before 3 p.m.
Time Zone: Australian Eastern Daylight Time (GMT +11, EST +16)

Hobart: Scores | Schedule | Draws

Seeds: (1) Dayana Yastremska, (2) Elise Mertens, (3) Amanda Anisimova, (4) Magda Linette, (5) Lulu Sun, (6) Elina Avanesyan, (7) Rebecca Sramkova, (8) Yuan Yue

The island of Tasmania will host the historic 30th edition of the WTA 250 Hobart International, which boasts Kim Clijsters, Chanda Rubin, Alicia Molik, Petra Kvitova, Garbiñe Muguruza and Elena Rybakina as former champions. More storylines to keep an eye on:

  • Dayana Yastremska tops the draw as the No.1 seed. Yastremska had a breakthrough Grand Slam event a year ago, when she made her first major semifinal at the 2024 Australian Open as a qualifier.
  • No.2 seed Elise Mertens will be aiming for her third Hobart title. She won the first two WTA singles titles of her career at this event, going back-to-back as champion in 2017 and 2018. She also made last year's final and has an 18-3 win-loss record at this event.
  • Two Grand Slam champions received wild cards: 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens and 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin. Kenin is also a former Hobart champion, winning the first WTA singles title of her career here in 2019.
  • Kenin will face No.5 seed Lulu Sun of New Zealand in the opening round. Sun had a breakthrough Wimbledon run last year, reaching the quarterfinals as a qualifier. Sun then made the WTA 500 final in Monterrey and was named 2024 WTA Newcomer of the Year.

Hobart ranking points and prize money
First round: 1 point | $2,975
Round of 16: 30 points | $4,160
Quarterfinals: 54 points | $6,815
Semifinals: 98 points | $11,970
Finalist: 163 points | $21,484
Champion: 250 points | $36,300

Weeks 3 and 4: Jan. 12 - Jan. 26

Australian Open (Grand Slam) - main draw starts Sunday, Jan. 12

Main Draw Ceremony: Thursday, Jan. 9, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on site
Singles Final: Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Doubles Final: Sunday, Jan. 26 at 3 p.m.
Mixed Doubles Final: Friday, Jan. 24 at 12 noon
Draw Size: 128 singles players (incl. 16 qualifiers and 8 wild cards), 64 doubles teams, 32 mixed doubles teams
Time Zone: Australian Eastern Daylight Time (GMT +11, EST +16)

The year's first major will be back in Melbourne Park, where World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka will attempt to become the first woman to win three straight Australian Open singles titles since Martina Hingis (1997-1999).

A complete breakdown of the seedings and storylines will follow later this week....