The first round of the Australian Open will come to a close across the grounds at Melbourne Park on Tuesday when the other half of the draw to which was on show on Monday will take to the courts for the first time this year.
We saw some excellent tennis on Monday with a number of big names making it through to the second round and on Tuesday the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Garbine Muguruza will be looking to follow them through.
Arthur Ashe Stadium
It is Garbine Muguruza who will be the first onto the main court on Tuesday. She plays her first round match against Clara Burel before the former French Open champion Iga Swiatek graces the big stage for the first time this year. Her first round opponent is the British qualifier Harriet Dart. There is one match in the day session on the men’s draw and that sees Daniil Medvedev taking on the Swiss player Henri Laaksonen to finish off the early action.
The night session begins with the women’s match where the number two seed Aryna Sabalenka is the star of the show. She meets the home wildcard Storm Sanders in a match which is likely to garner plenty of attention. The day on the Arthur Ashe Stadium concludes with a men’s match as the number four seed Stefanos Tsitsipas meets Mikael Ymer for a place in the second round of the competition.
Margaret Court Arena
The home crowds will be able to watch one of their own right from the start on Tuesday as Daria Saville takes on Rebecca Peterson before Andrey Rublev looks to move into the second round when he goes up against Gianluca Mager. There is one match left in the day session after they finish and that sees the former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep taking on Magdalena Frech to round off a busy first session.
There is a cracking night session on show on this court on Tuesday evening and it begins with the Australian number one Alex de Minaur on show. He faces Lorenzo Musetti who shot to prominence last year and who could be dangerous. Two US Open champions meet in the one women’s match in the evening when Sloane Stephens takes on the reigning winner of that tournament in the form of Emma Raducanu in the pick of the first round matches.
John Cain Arena
There is plenty more great action over on the third court on Tuesday and it begins with the former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova taking on Sorana Cirstea for a place in the second round before the fast improving Anett Kontaveit meets Katerina Siniakova. The day session concludes with the men’s match which will see Andy Murray make a return to the Grand Slam which retired him off three years ago. He meets Nikoloz Basilashvili for the second time in as many weeks. There is one match in the night session and the reduced capacity is sure to be taken up as Nick Kyrgios meets Liam Broady.
Kia Arena
Two wildcards open the show out on the Kia Arena where the home veteran Sam Stosur meets the American player Robin Anderson before the rising Italian ace Jannik Sinner goes up against one of the lucky losers in Joao Sousa. There is another men’s match to follow them when Casper Ruud faces the relatively unknown Slovakian player Alex Molcan before the former champion Angelique Kerber goes up against a fellow veteran in Kaia Kanepi to round off the day on the new court.
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Best of the Rest
There are plenty of seeded players dotted around the grounds and with so many streaming options covering those courts there is plenty of access for us to enjoy them all. The stars include Diego Schwartzman, Felix Auger-Aliassime, the US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, Elise Mertens, Danielle Collins, Roberto Bautista Agut, Marin Cilic, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Grigor Dimitrov, John Isner and Elena Rybakina among others.
Men’s Betting
I’ll go with one bet in the men’s draw and it comes in the form of a man who impressed in the early stages of the ATP Cup recently in the form of Kamil Majchrzak, who was in action alongside Hubert Hurkacz in that tournament and would have practiced with him and everything. The Pole didn’t really beat anyone there admittedly but that access to Hurkacz could be vital. Although he had three lesser opponents he won all three matches and did it without dropping a set. That’s all you can ask for really.
Majchrzak now faces Andreas Seppi who had one of the best days of his career in this tournament back in the day when he beat Roger Federer but those days look to be well behind him. The Italian is 37 now and has lost his last two matches coming in here and I’m far from convinced that these quicker courts are going to play to his strengths. I’m a little surprised the Pole isn’t shorter than 5/6 but I’m happy to play at that price.
Women’s Betting
There is just the one bet in the women’s draw that catches my eye as well and that is the high profile clash between the former US Open champion Sloane Stephens and the woman who currently possesses that trophy in the form of Emma Raducanu. Raducanu came from nowhere to win that tournament but it should be remembered that she was ranked outside the top 200 in the world going into that event and there is little to suggest so far that a talented woman didn’t just happen to have a three-week period where she played well above herself.
Raducanu has lost four of the six matches she has played since then and she has tested positive for Covid just prior to Christmas so she hasn’t had the best lead up to this event. Stephens hasn’t played at all this year having got married at the beginning of the month but I would imagine a happy personal life will lead to a happy player on the court and she is experienced enough to know how to get the best out of her game without a huge run of matches. There is a chance that the big stage inspires Raducanu but she’s still incredibly inexperienced at this level even as a Grand Slam champion and I think the prices are the wrong way round here. I like Stephens in this one.
Tips
WON – Back K.Majchrzak to beat A.Seppi for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
Back S.Stephens to beat E.Raducanu for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Boylesports
Back them here:
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