The Australian Open heads into day three.
It was a fruitful day yesterday with two out of the three best bets getting the cash for punters.
Nick Kyrgios does battle on Melbourne Arena again as does Novak Djokovic on centre court, while for the ladies world number two Simona Halep is in action as the Open moves to round two.
N. Kyrgios v #29 U. huMBERT
JOHN CAIN ARENA 7:00PM
Nick Kyrgios showed no signs of that knee giving him any trouble as he easily dispatched Frederico Silva in a straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory on the opening day of the Australian Open.
Tonight he comes up against Frenchman Ugo Humbert who was made to work hard for his first round win against Japanese veteran Yasutaka Uchiyama.
Kyrgios and Humbert have only played each other on one occasion in their careers with Humbert taking the honors after Kyrgios pulled out of the game with a wrist injury.
Despite not being seeded, Kyrgios enters the game as the $1.79 favourite against his 29th seeded opponent.
Umbert claimed the biggest scalp of his career last year at Paris by defeating current world number six Stefanos Tsitsipas in a three set thriller to show the tennis world he can compete with best.
This will be a game of contrasting styles.
With Kyrgios’ explosive nature combined with his trickery coming up against the left-handed Umbert who is a nifty, strategic youngster with plenty of power on his forehand.
Could be in for the long haul with this game.
Suggested bet: Two bet strategy
- Back Kyrgios to win 3 sets to 1 at $4.35
- Back Kyrgios to win 3 sets to 2 at $5.25
a. tomljanovic v #2 s.halep
margaret court arena 7:00pm
WTA world number two Simona Halep faces another Australian this time it’s Ajla Tomljanovic as the pair play off in their second round clash at Margaret Court Arena.
Halep was dominant in her opening game on Monday when she smashed Lizette Cabrera 6-2, 6-1 to impose herself on the 2021 Australian Open.
While 27-year-old Tomljanovic had an identical scoreline against Misaka Doi in round one, marching on into the second round.
Three matches have been played between Halep and Tomljanovic in their careers with the Romanian triumphant in all of them but Tomljanovic has been more than competitive in those encounters.
The most recent game on the hardcourt was at the 2020 Adelaide International where, despite winning in straight sets, Halep was made to sweat for her victory.
She eventually got over the line with a 6-4, 7-5 victory but Tomjlanovic would take some confidence from that match knowing she has the capability to match it with Halep.
Expecting Halep to win this match but the total game overs markets looks the way to play here.
Suggested Bets:
- Total games over 18.5 at $1.84.
- Simona Halep to win 2 sets to 1 at $4
#1 n. djokovic v f. tiafoe
ROD LAVER ARENA 2:15pm
Novak Djokovic takes centre court again as he faces 23-year-old American Frances Tiafoe in the second round tonight.
This is the first time ever these two players will do battle in their careers and it shapes as one the matches of the day despite the gap in the rankings.
Djokovic went through his gears in his round one demolition of Jeremy Chardy to eventually win 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 in a nice pipe opener as he ventured towards an unprecedented nine Australian Open titles.
Tiafoe, too, was dominant in his opening round win against inform Italian Stefano Travaglia.
A 7-6, 6-2, 6-2 straight sets victory for Tiafoe showed he has not just come out to Australia for a holiday.
The only knock on Tiafoe in that match was his first serve percentage of 54% which needs to improve vastly if he’s to have any chance of being competitive in this game.
It will be interesting to see how Djokovic negotiates the rallies where Tiafoe comes up to the net.
Tiafoe approached the net 26 times for 20 points won against Travaglia and it will be a tactic he must throw at the world number one because at the baseline, Djokovic is nearly unbeatable.
This will be another win for Djokovic but Tiafore will ensure it’s an entertainment match.
Suggested Bet: Total games under 27.5 at $1.93.
