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Tennis News :: Australian Open - Mens Singles Betting Overview

Posted on 2019-01-13 by Gooner

Twelve months ago Roger Federer defended the Australian Open title he won in 2017 and became a six time winner Down Under to join Roy Emerson and Novak Djokovic with that number of titles here.

It was another five set win for Federer in the final, but the veteran had a difficult last six months in the 2018 season which means he comes into this tournament as the Number 3 Seed. It is all relative to be honest as for most players Federer's season was good enough, but he is competing to win Grand Slam titles and failed to get beyond the Quarter Final at either Wimbledon or the US Open.

Roger Federer lands in the Third Quarter of the draw this week and his biggest rival is likely to be Marin Cilic who lost to Federer in the Final last year. There are also a couple of young talents in Karen Khachanov and Stefanos Tsitsipas who have both moved into the top 15 of the World Rankings after strong 2018 seasons.

Building on that is the next step for these players, but neither has reached the Quarter Final of a Grand Slam before and the Australian Open may not be the kind of conditions in which Khachanov or Tsitsipas will thrive in at this moment of their careers. Both players also have potentially awkward Third Round matches before they begin to face the big names in this Quarter of the draw and I would be surprised if one of the two Finalists from 2018 is not making the way through to the Semi Final.

Roger Federer and Marin Cilic do have a couple of obstacles to overcome but I think it is Federer who looks to have the better of the draws and he can return to the business end of a Grand Slam as he has in his last two visits here.

In fact I think Federer is the player most likely to reach the Final from the bottom half of the draw with the other big name in the section being Rafael Nadal.

However the Spaniard is still not looking like he is back at 100% from the injury that curtailed his 2018 season and the little tennis played ahead of the tournament has to be a concern. The draw is not the worst for Nadal, but Alex De Minaur could be a threat in the Third Round and the youngster may be looking to use the momentum of winning the title in Sydney to spark a big run in his home Grand Slam.

The man most likely to take advantage of any Nadal issues is Kevin Anderson as far as I am concerned with the South African playing some of the best tennis of his career in 2018. He reached the US Open Final in 2017 and also the Wimbledon Final in 2018 and Anderson has the kind of game that will put pressure on many opponents.

A fit Nadal would likely find a way to beat Anderson, but I like the way the draw could open up for him if the Spaniard was upset early. Even a potential Fourth Round match against John Isner or Grigor Dimitrov would not really put me off Anderson and I think he could be worth a small interest to win the Fourth Quarter.

While the bottom half has some quality players involved, I do think the top half is where the winner of this tournament will come from. The favourite and Number 1 Seed is Novak Djokovic and I am not too concerned with his defeat in Doha as that is a tournament in which he has not really thrived like he has in Australia.

Novak Djokovic won the last two Grand Slam titles and looked to be in great form being being beaten at the O2 Arena in the ATP World Tour Finals, but I think the conditions here suit him down to the ground. A former six time winner, Novak Djokovic has showed he can handle what can become very hot conditions in Australia and he is going to be the player to beat.

There are some quality players in his Quarter of the draw, but I think the likes of Daniil Medvedev and Kei Nishikori have issues to overcome to beat someone like Djokovic. The former was the Runner Up in Brisbane and still developing as a player, while Nishikori's record against Djokovic will be very hard to change in a best of five set scenario on a court the World Number 1 has loved.

The one player that most will be looking at to see if he can build on his successes of 2018 has to be Alexander Zverev and he is a potential Semi Final opponent for Novak Djokovic. The German won the ATP World Tour Finals to conclude the 2018 season, but failing to reach a Semi Final of any Grand Slam is a knock on Zverev and needs to be rectified in 2019.

He may not be fully fit at the moment, which is my one concern surrounding Zverev, but the draw potentially will open up for him. While there are some big names in this Quarter, Zverev won't really run into those until the Fourth Round and beyond by which time he could be the fresher player and able to take advantage for his best run in a Slam.

Before I am willing to back Zverev I do think he has to show he can handle the conditions in Australia and find his best tennis in a best of five set situation. The tournaments coming up later in 2019 may be more up Zverev's street and I can't even recommend him to reach a first Grand Slam Semi Final because of the potential matches the youngster is expected to face in the Fourth Round and Quarter Final.

Picking someone to oppose him in the section is not easy either because there are some tough matches to predict from the off and this might be the Quarter of the draw that produces the surprise player who makes a run at the Slams.

The break up of the Outright Picks are fairly boring to be perfectly honest, but it's about picking winners.

I am going to take both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the outright winner market with the latter each-way which will produce a profit as long as he reaches the Final.

I will also back Kevin Anderson to win the Fourth Quarter as I look for the best way to oppose Rafael Nadal.

BETTING PICKS :
- Novak Djokovic Win @ 2.20 with Bet365 (3 Points)
- Roger Federer Win @ 6.00 with Unibet (1 Point E/W)
- Kevin Anderson Win Fourth Quarter @ 4.50 with Bet365 (1 Point)

Sourced From : Gooners Guide To Tennis Betting

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