The Australian Open is underway!
There are a handful of Australians in action today as well as world number one Novak Djokovic.
Time to ace the best bets and value bets straight down the ‘T.’
#11 Denis Shapovalov v Jannik Sinner
Margaret court arena 8:15pm
Number 11 seed Dennis Shapavalov faces a tough test in his opening match of the Australian Open when he plays young rising star Jannik Sinner.
The pair are yet to meet in a competitive match at any level of the ATP tour in their careers but the market has sided with the more experienced Shapovalov to win this match.
The 21-year-old Canadian has shown the tour what to expect throughout his career and its reverberated through the rankings as he currently sits 12th in the world.
Sinner too has had a meteoric ride through the rankings as well and despite not being seeded here, the 19-year-old Italian has climbed into the top 40 players in the world.
His form leading into this tournament has been rock solid having won the Great Ocean Road Open which is his second ATP title triumph.
This game is set to be a great battle between two super talented youngsters but the value here lies with Sinner to upset Shapovalov.
Suggested Bet: Jannik Sinner head to head at $2.70
Frederico Ferreira Silva v Nick Kyrgios
MELBOURNE ARENA 7:00PM
Nick Kyrgios – the enigma of Australian tennis – has already made headlines after smashing a racquet and launching it out of 1573 Arena in a warm-up loss against Borna Coric.
We all know how brilliant and explosive the Australian can be but he comes into this game under an injury cloud that plagued him in the loss to Coric.
Kyrgios had a compression bandage on his left leg and it seemed to hinder him throughout the 6-3, 6-4 loss.
His opponent Frederico Ferreira Silva may not have the weapons in his armory to match it with Kyrgios but he comes into this fit and firing after winning all three of his qualifier matches.
Silva has never played against Kyrgios in his career and would take home confidence heading into the tournament with winning form.
However, Silva is ranked 184th in the ATP rankings whereas Kyrgios is ranked 47th and a proven grand slam tournament player having reached a quarter final of the Australian Open.
Given the question mark over Kyrgios’ fitness and his vulnerability to implode at times, Silva can definitely put big hitting Aussie.
Suggested Bet: Total games over 33.5 at $1.77
#1 Novak Djokovic v Jeremy Chardy
ROD LAVER ARENA 8:15PM
Novak Djokovic starts his Australian Open title defence against French veteran Jeremy Chardy.
On face value, and in the betting, it appears a fait accompli that Djokovic will win this and rightly so.
Djokovic and Chardy have come up against each other 13 times in their careers with Djokovic winning every encounter.
In their most recent encounter on the hardcourt it was a 6-3, 7-5 victory in favour of Djokovic at the 2018 Shanghai Masters.
Despite the relatively comfortable win for Djokovic on that day, Chardy did make the eight-time Australian open champion earn it.
Chardy was quite competitive in that game and he will be here but he’s no match for the current world number one.
The total games over/under line is set at 26.5 and that looks a bit harsh on Chardy despite the gap in rankings and talent.
Suggested Bet: Total games over 26.5 at $1.73
