Tennis
2026-01-22 - Ben Shelton vs Dane Sweeny
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis : Australian Open Second Round
Thursday 22nd January 2025 - Scheduled 1pm
2am (British Time)
Preview
Losing confidence on a tennis court can see a career spiral and that is certainly what happened to Dane Sweeny.
The 24 year old Australian had slipped well outside the top 500 and that has meant scrambling and fighting to get back into a position, such as the one he enjoyed on Tuesday when upsetting veteran Gael Monfils in the First Round at his home Grand Slam.
This is the first time Dane Sweeny has won a main draw match at a Grand Slam, while credit has to be given to the player for first battling through Qualifying.
Winning matches has rebuilt the confidence, even if those were mainly on the lower circuit compared with the ATP Tour, and Dane Sweeny is going to be playing with a new career-high World Ranking at the end of this tournament. This should help in his bid to perhaps earn the right to play in bigger events, which in turn will help Sweeny improve the Ranking further, and there is nothing to lose ahead of this very tough Second Round match.
His opponent has played thirteen Grand Slam tournaments and Ben Shelton has made the Quarter Final four times, while two of the three previous appearances at the Australian Open have been very productive. On debut Shelton made the Quarter Final in 2023 and he was a Semi Finalist twelve months ago, while the American is looking a little better on the court having struggled for form after being forced to retire mid-match at the US Open back in September.
You know what to expect from Shelton- he has a monster serve and he will be looking to use that shot to keep the pressure on his inexperienced opponent, especially having seen Reilly Opelka do that against Dane Sweeny to very good effect earlier this month.
However, taking the next step in his career and winning a Major will depend on whether Ben Shelton can improve what is a vulnerable return game.
This is the kind of match in which Ben Shelton can perhaps exert his dominance a little more having broken in 30% of return games when playing those Ranked outside the top 100 compared with his overall 18% mark.
Dane Sweeny gave up 8 Break Points in the defeat to Reilly Opelka in a best of three set format and he may struggle to contain Ben Shelton, who will appreciate the atmosphere that will likely be generated by the home crowd.
A solid First Round win is expected to be backed up by Ben Shelton and he may just have too much know-how for the home player as he makes his way through to the Third Round.
Prediction
Lay the games with one of the title contenders as he looks to move past a young, home player in the Second Round in Melbourne.
The Pick :
Ben Shelton 3-0 Dane Sweeny
