After finding Kaia Kanepi at $2.06 to defeat the 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, our tennis experts have found more value on day five of the tournament.
Nick Kyrgios will provide plenty of entertainment against Dominic Thiem with the pair set to play at 7pm (AEDT).
Check out the best bets for today’s action below.
a. potapova v #10 s.williams
margaret court ARENA 1:00PM
Serena Williams heads into her third round match against Anastasia Potapova having conceded only five games in her matches against Laura Siegemund and Nina Stojanovic.
A 6-3, 6-0 triumph over Siegemund was followed up by a 6-1, 6-1 demolition of Stojanovic as Williams showed the tennis world motherhood and age have not slowed her down one iota.
Potapova, too, has been impressive in her opening two matches of the tournament with commanding straight set victories over 24th seed Alison Riske and Timea Babos.
Today’s opponents have only met once prior to this clash and it was in the first round of this tournament last year.
It was Williams who showed her power that day with a straight sets 6-0, 6-3 win against the then 18-year-old.
Potapova has slumped in the rankings since this time last year and despite having more experience under her belt it’s hard to make a winning case for her here.
This will be a straight set victory to Williams as she powers into the fourth round.
Suggested Bet: Total games under 18.5 at $1.90
#3 d.thiem v n.kyrgios
melbourne arena 7:00pm
We all sat on the edge of our seats as Nick Kyrgios won a five-set heart stopper against 29th Ugo Humbert in the second round of the Australian Open.
The 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 win was full of determination and grit: something his knockers continually say he lacks.
The local star now faces world number three Dominic Thiem who has been faultless in the tournament thus far.
The 27-year-old Austrian has managed straight set victories against Mikhail Kukushkin and Dominik Koepfer, and looks like a big threat to go deep in the tournament.
It was back in 2015 that Kyrgios and Thiem met each other for their first and only clash which was on clay in France.
That match only got as far as the first set with Kyrgios having to forfeit due to injury.
Fast forward six years and it’s been a contrasting set of careers with Thiem entrenched in the top 10 ATP rankings since 2016 while Kyrgios has battled with injury and consistency.
Kyrgios will be reliant on his massive first serve – which has landed 75% of the time in this tournament – and his lethal forehand to combat Thiem.
The attitude of the 25-year-old Australian is always a hot topic for debate with tennis experts and fans but statistics say he loves to dig in for the fight when needed.
He saved two match points against Humbert and extended his record in five set matches to eight wins and two losses.
Thiem, however, is in a different class altogether when compared to the opponents Kyrgios has faced in the tournament so far.
The crowd will get behind Kyrgios and we will not be short of entertainment but with sentiment aside, Thiem looks in super touch and could very well win his first grand slam.
Suggested Bet: Total games over 38.5 at $1.83
#11 d.shapovalov v #20. f auger aliassime
margaret court arena 7.00pm
This could be one the matches of the tournament with the highly touted, young Canadians doing battle for the fourth time in their careers.
World number 12 Denis Shapavlov has all the signs of a future grand slam winner as does Felix Auger-Aliassime who has scorched up the ATP rankings to sit in 19th spot.
Shapovalov has the edge in the head to head battles having won three bouts to Auger-Aliassime’s one.
Their most recent match came on the hardcourt in the first round of the 2019 US Open.
It ended up being a very comfortable straight sets 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 win for Shapovalov but his compatriot tonight has come on in leaps and bound since then.
He started $1.6 on that occasion and we get $1.5 today.
Those odds seem a little bit prohibitive and Auger-Aliassime is more than capable of pinching a set or two in this but the experience and power of Shapovalov should come to the fore here.
Settling on a two bet play here.
Suggested Bets:
Shapovalov to win 3 sets to 1 at $3.80
Shapovalov to win 3 sets to 2 at $5
