I had my doubts about taking this match either over the number of games or to take Istomin as the victor of the match. As you can see I have decided to take both bets here and they look extremely good.Dennis is coming into this tournament with a lot of points to defend, last year he knocked out Dodig, Djokovic, Carreno Busta, and even took a set out of Dimitrov before eventually running out of gas.Pierre as a good server as he is can very much take this match to distance and win at least a set in this match while there is almost no chance for him to win this match in straight sets in my mind.

Ivo hasn't played a single tennis match this season or any since the sprain of the ankle against Tsitsipas in Belgium last season. But with a player that is as cautious as he is about his injuries I really doubt that he would play in this match if he wasn't ready to compete at the highest level.Still, he got a tough draw for the opening round match here against the Serb player Djere who is a much-improved hardcourt player and even though he prefers clay courts can very much play on a high level on this surface as well.I don't think that either of this two players is capable to win the match in straight sets here.

The two young guns will play it out in the first round of the first Grand Slam tournament of the season.Denis has played better at the end of the last season while Tsitsipas has entered this season better.These two players have very similar games with big serves, strong forehand wings, and onehanded backhand shots.Movement is better with Denis although Tsitsipas has improved a lot in the offseason in that regard.Still, the slower conditions might suit Dennis a bit more in this match cause he has more variety on his serve and it's not all about big strength on it.I fancy Denis to win the match and there is value in taking him.

Kevin King has been playing some really great tennis this season, not a lot of matches total but he has shown good improvement in his game and serve is doing wonders. This is a good draw for him against a player who isn't as dependable as he is on serve and is a bit on and off.He looks confident and really took it on Ignatik yesterday where he won all of his service games and was better player from the start of the match untill the end of it .there is definitely value on this odds on him to win .

Marach and Pavic are in tremendous form this season. They have played 4 matches total and all four have been victories over good opponents without a lost set on the way.They only continued on the run they made last season and are now victors of 9 of 10 matches played.They play against Duran and Molteni who prefer slower conditions than the tournament in Auckland does offer, with their big serving and overall better returning ability they should be the winners of this match and should win it without a lost set on the way once again .

Christian Harrison is a younger brother of Ryan who never made it quite to the future everyone expected him to have due to plenty of injuries he had on his way after turning pro. Now he has been healthy for last year or so and almost instantly made progress on rankings.This isn't an easy draw against another fellow American player and another big talent for USA tennis but is a draw that he might even like.He is a good returner and a player who can hold his ground in this match .I think that the match will be tight enough to cover this line of games.

Christian Harrison is a younger brother of Ryan who never made it quite to the future everyone expected him to have due to plenty of injuries he had on his way after turning pro. Now he has been healthy for last year or so and almost instantly made progress on rankings.This isn't an easy draw against another fellow American player and another big talent for USA tennis but is a draw that he might even like.He is a good returner and a player who can hold his ground in this match .I think that the match will be tight enough to cover this line of games.

Calvin Hemery is a young and promising player that really played his best tennis at the end of last season with a couple of really good shows on the challenger circuit.Here he plays against a Bosnian native Tomislav Brkic who is primarily a clay court player but has a big serve and a strong forehand wing that can give him some real edge in this match.Hemery isn't really a destroyer, he rarely wins his matches over this line of games and this match being played on a slower Aussie open surface will work more for Brkic than will for Hemery.

Kevin King and Uladzimir Ignatik are both great servers for challenger circuit and even ATP. They really take pride in it and look to make some real edge with it.Both are very aggressive players that don't like too much baseline exchanges and I think that is what this match will be all about.Dont expect too many chances for the returner in this one.This is a very tough encounter here and we might even see three sets but its quite a good chance that they will pass this line even in two sets.

Gilles Simon is undefeated in this season, 5 matches played and all 5 have been wins for him with only one match going to three sets and that one was against the top-seeded Cilic. He really looks good on the court, is quite sharp from baseline and has brought a bit more variety in his game this season with going to the net, occasional drop shot and more variety on serve as well.


He plays against Jared Donaldson, an American player who has quite promising future but I don't see him getting into top 10 players of the world.He is pretty much all about power as all American players are, he can produce brutal winners of both wings on the floor and has pretty strong serve but nothing about his game that makes him go off the charts.

This is kind of a perfect matchup for Gilles, Donaldson can be an unforced errors machine at times and there is no one better in the world in drawing those errors than Gilles.Plus at this moment he is really full of confidence in his game and has shown no hiccups.Odds are rising on Simon at this point but don't think that he will lose the role of a favorite, he is a better player even though he is lower ranked at the moment.


The only thing that might make this one lose is his fatigue, but despite 5 matches, he wasn't in for too many sets, only one match going to distance and he should be good to go here.

Nicolas Jarry is a very capable player, hardcourt surface might not be his strongest suit just yet but he will get there .On clay court he plays with very aggressive flat shots and has a great serve ,220 kmh on the first and very good kick serve on 2nd.Constantin is a young player on France who will soon get to ATP main stage events, very capable player with good touch and dependable game off both wings.Still, this one will not be an easy match for either player. Jarry rarely wins on hardcourts easily and rarely losses easily .both matches he played this season went in three sets and covered this line of games in first two sets.I expect for the match to be tight, servers to dominate their service games most of the time and for the players to go over the line of games.We might easily see three sets in this one as well even though I think that there is a good chance that they will even go over in two sets. 

Alex has been playing better tennis at the start of this season and at the end of last one. You could see in Viktors game that there is no real desire on the court and he really struggles at times. Even though he started in matchups against Alex with three straight victories he lost the latest two and quite comfortably for that matter by 6-1 6-4 and 6-1 6-0 6-4 .Alex has had better body language at the start of the season, he is the favorite to win the match without a doubt and I expect him to win it by 3 games or more.

Reilly has progressed as a player a lot and now he has a good shot at winning his first title this season . He plays against a player that has been also quite impressive and is probably the toughest oponnent left for him on the tournament . Still be that as it may , both players are more than capable of winning their own service games and I expect for this match to be another thriller played by Opelka . Line is pretty low at this point and soon enough it will grow to 23.5 or even 24.5 which is a big difference . I expekt one or two tiebreaks even here . 

Reilly has had a very tough match last night against the Lithuanian Berankis which he managed to beat in three sets, we only saw one break of serve in that match and I don't think that this one will be too much better when it comes of returning. Reilly is the favorite to win this match, but he plays against an opponent who is in very good form and ended the last season on a strong note. Therefor we should see a good resistance from Kamil, maybe even a potential upset in this one. But whoever does win this match I doubt that it will be easy, I expect a break to be seen in the match here and for them to go over at least 22 games here.

With Milos Raonic it's quite certain that he wouldn't play in this match if he isn't feeling at his very best and at the top of his game. A worker as he is probably trained twice as hard in the offseason to prepare himself for this one and it will pay out. It's never a good draw for yourself to play against a local player on your comeback, especially when its Australian cause they are crazy about their tennis and really support them almost like Cyprians do Baghdatis. Still, Raonic with all of his skills and a strong game should have the upper hand in this match, the far more talented player with the far bigger game other than the big server and this is almost like the perfect matchup for Milos style-wise.


Alex is a good player and a talented player, but a player who will never in my mind get to top 10 positions or that close to it, he is a good and dependable baseliner and not much more than that. Reminds me a lot of Tim Smyzek strength wise and serve wise. Nothing too special about his game, just good conditioning and the nice touch but nothing remarkable about him. Raonic with his power from the back of the court and on his serve will keep constant pressure on the Australian both in the exchanges and on the return.

I don't see how De Minaur can get a set in this match.

Reilly Opelka hasn't been quite the player he wanted to become last season and there is still a lot of tools for him to work on in his game other than his big serve. His footwork is very weak despite his height and all and he needs to have more control on the ball. This is one of the toughest opponents that he could have gotten for the opening round match this season. Ricardas is a tremendous returner, has great footwork and knows how to play against big servers as Reilly.With all of his experience, great returning ability he should be the one to win the match here. Looks like a very valuable bet.

Marton Fucsovics has been one of the most improved players and the biggest surprises late in the last season. The Hungarian is a great all-around player, has a good serve and likes to play on faster surfaces. His opponent in this match is the complete opposite, he only played 15 matches on hardcourt surface of which he won only 3 of them .his bread and butter is clay and that is where he is at his best but not even on ATP level but on the challenger circuit. This is a really good draw for the Hungarian and considering the tennis that he has been able to produce against players like Cilic and such, this should be an easy straight setter for him. 

Yannick Hanfmann and Sam Groth have never played against each other.Groth after a poor season last year for his standards and a couple of injuries took some time off late in the last season to recover and regroup for this season. He is opening on home court, in Brisbane and the crowd will stick with him here. This isn't an easy first-round match by any means against a player that has really bloomed last season and highlighted himself as a great all-around player that can play on all surfaces. I don't think that either of this two players will manage to win this one easy. Sam has an edge on serve but Yannick is quite a capable server as well, the difference will be after that serve cause Sam will use the serve&volley approach as much and as often as he can while Yannick will stick to the baseline where he is very good. I don't think that either of them will be able to win it easy and there for the top bet is over 22.5 games.


 

Kwoon Woo has been playing some of the best tennis of his life last couple of months in the season and is currently enjoying his highest ranking ever at 168 . He is playing Zhe Li in the finals for the Asian wild card for the Australian open and will certainly deliver his best . He played Zhe Li once prior to this match , this season as well and beat him by 7-6 6-3 but on a much faster surface . Considering that this one isnt as fast will suit his game more and  considering how demolishing he has been of late its to expekt another straight sets victory for him .

Both of this two players have really played well so far on challenger tournament in Italy . Surface suits the big servers and luckily for them they both have quite a good first serve and are winning almost all of their service games with easy . I dont expekt for this match to be easy for either player who wins it . Both of them have played well so far and will look to take initiative as soon as they can . I expekt a tiebreak or two to be seen in this match and there is value on this line of games .

Even though Goffin has played some excellent tennis of late so has Tsonga in the Davis cup , they are playing at home and Tsonga in front of his crowd is always one of the toughest players to deal with . He is the player that likes the attention and this being a do or die match for the Belgians will get the best out of Goffin but so will it from Jo . I expekt for them to combine at least 4 sets and even five is quite likely to happen and for them to go over the line of games .

Two Aussie players go against each other in the Hua Hin challenger and its clear to see who is the favorite to win it . John Millman has been in great form of late , really played stunning tennis on this tournament so far and he has far better game than Andrew does apart from the serve where Whittington has a small edge . They have never played against each other but being a very big stage and the finals tournament I think that Millman will rise up to the occasion and will win it in straight sets .

Filippo has played super well on this tournament so far , really dominated his oponnents from the back of the court and with his serve , not a single one lost last night against Pellegrino and he was only threatened on one of his service games . Here plays against Ignatik who has more experience than he does and more semifinals on the challenger tour but this being a local tournament for Baldi will get the best out of him on the court .

Both Mirza Basic and Heyman have been really impressive so far on this tournament , Heyman even more cause he has been serving up some incredible tennis and hasnt lost a singloe service game in his last 2 matches . Here he is an underdog against the Bosnian pride Mirza Basic but he is a player that can threaten him without a doubt . Both being such big servers and players who like to play on this type of surface makes the obvious choice , and that is over games in first set which is supposed to be the toughest .

Both Pellegrino and Baldi have made their country proud on the challenger in Andria , two very good wins over Kern and Setkic for Pellegrino while Baldi beat Jaloviec who was in great form at the point and Lorenzo Sonego who was one of the favorites to go all the way . Now they play against each other and its fair to say that Baldi has looked better on the tournament . He has more skills of the two players while the serves are almost equally as good . I expekt for Filippo to find a way to win this one .

These odds look as a complete mistake cause the French player is a tremendous server and an awfull returner . I dfont think that he can break a server like Uladzimir while on the other end he can hold his ground on the serve without that much of a trouble . In first set when the serving percentage is at its highest I think that we will see a lot of games and for them to go over this line here .