Some big opportunities for some little-known Australians on the opening day of the Australian Open. See our outright Australian Open betting previews here.
Best Bet
The experienced Russian has been a staple inside the top-30 for around a decade, and her numbers over the last 12 months are of someone around the top-20 mark.
Owns a 6-1 record over the last 52 weeks against opposition ranked 51-100, while Yue Yuan was just 4-10 against players ranked inside the top-30 over the same period.
Pavlyuchenkova has played well in Australia before, reaching the Quarter Final on three occasions and she should cover this handicap in the opening round.
Next Best
Understand that Gaston should be favourite in this – he’s clearly better than Australian Omar Jasika, but he’s no world beater.
The Frenchman is ranked 81 in the world, and has barely advanced passed the first-round in multiple major attempts with the French Open the only outlier.
11-19 record on hard court last year and just 8-8 against players ranked outside the top-100, the total games line is on the light side all things considered.
Jasika will no doubt receive plenty of support from the crowd, so this could go the distance.
Great first-round match-up between two young talents, and I’m leaning towards the Dane in this.
Noskova starts as favourite, but think this is due to her upset win over Swiatek at the Australian Open 12 months ago. The Czech hasn’t played much tennis since the US Open where she lost in the first-round, and was smashed by Andreeva and Sakkari in the lead-up.
Tauson on the other hand has played plenty of tennis, reaching the Final in Hong Kong in October, and winning in Auckland in the lead-up with wins over Kenin, Keys and Osaka.
Another Australian on opening day and I like the price for Adam Walton in front of his home crowd.
Quentin Halys is solid and played some decent tennis along the way, but the Frenchman is always injured – and once again he enters the Australian Open under an injury cloud retiring in Adelaide with a wrist injury.
Walton produced two solid wins against top-100 opposition in Lajovic and Hijikata in the lead-up, and think he’ll take full advantage.
Sensational 2024 by Donna Vekic, but I feel the Croatian has hit a lull after reaching the Quarter Final of the US Open.
Vekic is just 2-5 since then, although her opponents have been strong, but it’s the conviction of her losses in the lead-up that are concerning at both the United Cup and Adelaide.
Parry is much better than her ranking of 66 suggests, with her numbers comparable to Vekic in terms of serve and return points won against top-50 opponents last year. Think the Frenchwoman can scare Vekic and cover this line.
Value Bet
Major upset alert at a price. The Ukrainian just sneaks into the top-100 and her end of year form is concerning, but showed glimpses last year with a Quarter Final run at Beijing beating Kalinskaya and top-50 players in Avanesyan and Sinikova, while taking a set off Gauff.
I’ve got serious concerns around Leylah Fernandez – an 18-16 record on hard court last year which becomes 11-15 against top-100 opposition which included first-round exits at both the US and Australian Open against lesser opposition.
The Canadian’s serve and return numbers against top-100 opposition on hard courts last year had her ranked at 62, while Starodubtseva was ranked 31 for the same metric.
Daily H2H Multi
Opelka (M) / Potapova (W) / Pavlyuchenkova (W) / Badosa (W) = $3.56
