The SANDS CHINA LTD Macau Open 2025 kicks off tomorrow, and with it comes the long-awaited return of Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje who are back on court together on the World Tour after more than a year apart.

The last time we saw Christiansen/Bøje compete was at the Canada Open in July 2024, where they finished as runners-up. Later in September, Christiansen was handed a one-year ban due to filing failures in his anti-doping whereabouts, with the suspension effective until just a week ago. As a consequence, the pair had to withdraw from the Olympics, ranked 11th in the world at the time.

In his absence, Bøje trained and competed with Robin Tabeling, playing in several World Tour tournaments, including a title win at the German Open in March. Their last dance together came at the European Championships, where they reached the quarterfinals. Following Tabeling’s retirement from international badminton, Bøje shifted focus to training ahead of Christiansen’s return, and the comeback is now official.

The Danes will now look to rebuild momentum in a mixed doubles field that has changed significantly over the past year. Retirements, new partnerships, and reshuffling open up possibilities but also offer tough competition. Ranked 176 in the world, the pair begins their climb from the qualification round in Macau. Their first test will be against Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh/Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn, the top seeds in qualification. They will be hoping for a great start to their comeback ahead of the BWF World Championships, which will take place in just four weeks.

Europeans in the qualification rounds
Also starting in the qualification rounds is Magnus Johannesen, the top seed in men’s singles qualification, facing Cheng Kai. Daniil Dubovenko is also seeded in the men’s singles qualification rounds. In women’s singles, Keisha Fatmah Azzahra and Amalie Schulz will also start from qualifications and if successful in their openers, they’ll go straight through to the main draw.

Main draw matchups to watch from Wednesday
In the main draw, Mads Christophersen and Misha Zilberman will look for success in men’s singles. In women’s singles, Line Christophersen faces a difficult opener against third seed Chiu Pin-Chian, while seventh seed Julie Dawall Jakobsen takes on rising Indian talent Unnati Hooda, the 17-year-old who last week stunned Pusarla V. Sindhu, securing a spot in the China Open quarterfinals.

In doubles, Annie Lado/Estelle Van Leeuwen will be competing in women’s doubles, while Van Leeuwen will also compete paired up with Callum Hemming in mixed doubles.

You can see the full draw and order of play here.