Naomi Osaka vs Belinda Bencic Preview & Prediction | 2025 Australian Open | Third Round

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Two-time champion Naomi Osaka has been made to work hard in both her matches in Melbourne so far, and she is now tasked with navigating her way past a formidable-looking Belinda Bencic in the third round.

Start date/time: Friday 17th January, 2025, UK – not before 12:00am / Thursday 16th January, US ET – not before 7:00pm / US PT – not before 4:00pm

Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia

Surface: Outdoor hard

How to watch on TV: UK – Eurosport / US – ESPN+

How to watch online: UK – Eurosport website & discovery+ / US – ESPN+ platforms

Tickets: Visit this link for the latest Naomi Osaka vs Belinda Bencic ticket information

Naomi Osaka vs Belinda Bencic Prediction

Former world number one Naomi Osaka has not done it the easy way so far in Melbourne, losing sets in both her opening two matches before coming through against Caroline Garcia and Karolina Muchova. She even lost the first set 6-1 against Muchova last time out, but found her game to win the last two sets 6-1, 6-3.

The two-time champion will now look to go beyond the third round here for the first time since she last scooped the prize in 2021, but even if she doesn’t, this is still the first time in three years that she has won two matches at a Grand Slam.

Belinda Bencic has made more serene progress with a pair of straight-sets wins over 16th-seed Jelena Ostapenko and most recently Suzan Lemens, and she represents a real danger to Osaka here.

Having skipped the majority of 2024 due to pregnancy, Bencic’s lowly ranking belies her talent and she is more than capable of causing an upset in this one. Expect this to go to a deciding set.

Naomi Osaka vs Belinda Bencic Tip: Over 2.5 sets