Tennis
2026-01-20 - Karolina Pliskova vs Sloane Stephens
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis : Australian Open First Round
Tuesday 20th January 2025 - Scheduled 1pm
2am (British Time)
Preview
Two former Grand Slam Finalists meet in the First Round at the Australian Open in 2026 and Sloane Stephens and Karolina Pliskova are both Ranked outside of the top 1000.
That is less to do with their talent, but more to do with injuries meaning limited time spent on the court over the last twelve months and so every win in Melbourne will provide a significant boost.
With both turning 33 and 34 respectively in March, you do have to accept that Stephens and Pliskova are in the final stages of what have been strong careers. Sloane Stephens won a Grand Slam title at the US Open, while losing another at the French Open, while Karolina Pliskova reached two Grand Slam Finals without winning a Major.
Of course it is the Czech player who earned the World Number 1 position, while Sloane Stephens is a former World Number 3, and both players are very familiar with one another.
Since returning from a year long lay off, Karolina Pliskova has lost all three matches played on the Tour and is making her debut in 2026. This has to be a potential factor in the match and it is the main reason that Pliskova has been set as the underdog in this contest.
Sloane Stephens also returned in 2025 and failed to win a match before losing early in Auckland, but the American decided to take part in the Qualifiers for the Australian Open rather than looking for a Wild Card. She is a former Semi Finalist at this Grand Slam, but six of the last eight appearances at the Australian Open have ended in a First Round defeat.
Three Qualifying wins will have given Sloane Stephens a real boost and the performances in those matches will also be a real shot of confidence.
It also will help the American that she has won six of the seven matches against Karolina Pliskova on the main Tour and that includes both previous hard court contests.
Neither player is at the level they once were, but Sloane Stephens should be all the better for the tennis that she has gotten under her belt this past week.
Her tennis matches up pretty well with Karolina Pliskova and that may show up on the final scoreboard in this clash of two veterans that once pushed for Grand Slam titles, but are just trying to remain in position to compete on the Tour these days.
Prediction
Lay the games with the former US Open Champion against a former World Number 1.
Both players are Ranked outside the top 1000 these days as injuries have slowed them down, but Sloane Stephens has three Qualifying wins under her belt and matches up well with Karolina Pliskova.
The Pick :
Karolina Pliskova 0-2 Sloane Stephens
