Tennis
2026-01-20 - Naomi Osaka vs Antonio Ruzic
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis : Australian Open First Round
Tuesday 20th January 2025 - Scheduled 9:30pm
10:30am (British Time)
Preview
The return to the Tour has been pretty challenging for Naomi Osaka, even if the former World Number 1 has shown signs of getting closer to her best tennis.
The run to the US Open Semi Final back in September will have given Naomi Osaka a huge boost- this is her best Grand Slam run since winning the Australian Open in 2021. Prior to becoming a mother for the first time, Naomi Osaka had been the dominant hard court player on the WTA Tour and it is impossible to ignore the fact that she won four Grand Slam titles on the surface.
Two of those were right here in Melbourne, although Naomi Osaka has been beaten in the First Round and Third Round in her last two appearances here.
However, the improvement in the second half of the 2025 season means Naomi Osaka has moved back inside the top 20 of the World Rankings. This is important for Osaka in terms of being able to avoid the top names on the Tour until the Third Round at least and this gives the former World Number 1 an opportunity to build some momentum into the biggest events of the 2026 year over the next eleven months.
For all of the improvement, there is scope for more with Naomi Osaka looking to show a bit more on the return of serve, while she is 1-1 on the hard courts in preparation for this event.
First up for Naomi Osaka is a match up against Antonio Ruzic who is the World Number 71 and who has lost her sole match in the build up to the Australian Open.
The 22 year old has steady numbers when facing players Ranked inside the top 50 over the last twelve months on the hard courts, but she is 0-3 when facing top 20 Ranked opponents. That is the challenge for the younger player and she has not really been able to get into the return games in those matches against the best players on the Tour.
Antonio Ruzic is going to have to serve well to try and build some pressure on Naomi Osaka, but the latter has gotten to grips with facing those she should be beating. Over the last twelve months, Osaka is 8-4 when facing those outside of the top 50 and a couple of those defeats could easily have gone in her way with a bit more fortune at the biggest moments.
Only one of the last seven Grand Slam tournaments have ended in a First Round defeat for Naomi Osaka and she may have just enough in hand to cover this awkward line set for this match.
Prediction
Lay the games with the former World Number 1 and two time Australian Open Champion.
The Pick :
Naomi Osaka 2-0 Antonio Ruzic
