Tennis: Australian Open - 1st Round - Men; 21 picks
Australian Open - Men
1st Round
Novak Djokovic, 1, Serbia over Mitchell Krueger, 231, USA
Djokovic has won this tournament six times, and Krueger has only nine professional matches under his belt. Need I say more?
Jo-Wilifried Tsonga, 177, France over Martin Klizan, 40, Slovakia
Tsonga, a former Top Tenner, missed seven months last year due to left knee surgery. However after a win over De Minaur in Brisbane two weeks ago he looked good. He should be too tough for the talented Klizan and add to his lifetime $21,000,000 earnings.
David Goffin, 22, Belgium over Christian Garin, 86, Chile
Goffin is multi-talented and experienced and should be too tough on the 22-year old Garin. If they were playing on clay their match could be much more unpredictable.
Daniil Medvedev, 16, Russia over Lloyd Harris, 119, South Africa
Medvedev is one of the up and coming studs on the Tour, but Harris can serve a ton. This match could be close, but Medvedev’s got momentum and will come out on top.
Fabio Fognini, 13, Italy over Jaume Munar, 74, Spain
This should be an entertaining match, but Fognini is a real talent and a great shot maker and he should come out on top as long as he keeps his head together.
Pablo Carreno Busta, 24, Spain over Luca Vanni, 164, Spain
Carreno Busta is a talent, and has much too much experience for Vanni. Vanni, at 6’6”, could cause damage with his serve, but not enough to win this match.
Philipp Kohlschreiber, 34, Germany over Zhe Li, 261, China
Last week Kohlschreiber looked great beating Fognini and sluggish and in his loss to Tennys Sandgren in Sydney. Still, I’m going to assume that he was just getting ready for the Australian Open. He should win this match fairly easily.
Kei Nishikori, 9, Japan over Kamil Majchrzak, 76, Poland
Majchrzak is just 21 and is far too inexperienced to give Nishikori a run for his money. Kei should move on and could make a run in this draw.
Sasha Zverev, 4, Germany over Aljaz Beden, 67, Slovenia
The ultra-talented Zverev is the new ATP Tour Champion after his win over Djokovic in November. He is 2-0 against Bedene and will win this match in his first real bid for a Grand Slam Championship.
Jack Sock, 105, USA over Alex Bolt, 159, Australia
Jack Sock, a past Top Tenner went 9-21 over the past twelve months in singles despite winning both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in doubles. Had he drawn another player I’d be dubious that Sock could come out of his singles depression, but I doubt Bolt has enough firepower to win.
Bjorn Frantangelo, 135, USA over Gilles Simon, 31, France
Serving at 1-4 in the first set last week in Sydney, Simon hit a sizzling running cross-court forehand passing shot past the net-charging De Minaur. It was a thing of beauty and I’m glad I saw it because it was the only highlight he had in the whole match. Frantangelo, young, inexperienced, but hungry, should upset the Frenchman.
Hyeon Chung, 25, South Korea over Bradley Klahn, 76, USA
Chung made a fantastic run to last year’s Aussie Open semis beating Sasha Zverev (4) and Novak Djokovic (1) back to back before going down to Federer (3). Don’t expect that kind of run this year, but Chung is for real. He’ll battle over Klahn in his hope to retain some ranking points after last year’s glorious run here.
Dominic Thiem, 8, Austria over Benoit Paire, 55, France
Thiem is a next generation champion, but now that he’s 25 I would argue that his time has come. He will contend for this title and Paire will just be a first round sparring partner.
Marin Cilic, 7, Bosnia over Bernard Tomic, 85, Australia
Everyone knows Tomic has talent, but he has shown little drive or commitment in his professional career. Cilic, on the other hand, is the consummate professional and just happened to get to the Finals last year where he lost in 5 sets to Federer. If Tomic comes to play the match could be entertaining, but Cilic will move on.
Karen Khachanov, 11, Russia over Peter Gojowczyk, 60, Germany
Khachanov is only 22, but he’s 6’6”, he’s talented, and he’s ready to contend. He’ll dispatch Gojowczyk and look for him to go deep in this draw…now.
Stephanos Tsitipsias, 15, Greece over Matteo Berrettini, 52, Italy
Tsitipsias, at 20, is for real. He hits a ton off of both wings and his serve is a real weapon. This might not be his year to win, but he should contend, and he’ll start with this match, although expect at least two tie-breakers because the Italian serves bullets.
Roger Federer, 3, Switzerland over Denis Istomin, 99, Russia
Besides all the well-known statistics (like the 6 Australian Open titles, the 8 Wimbledon titles and the 20 Grand Slam championships) Federer has won 1180 professional matches, 99 career titles, spent 310 weeks as #1 in the world, and won over $120 MILLION in prize money. Okay, he’s 37…but he won’t lose in the first round here.
Frances Tiafoe, 39, USA over Prajnesh Gunneswaran, 112, India
Tiafoe has ripened quicker than all the other young American players and, although he’s not ready to contend for a title yet, he’s playing well and should take out the Qualifier from India.
Diego Schwartzman, 19, Argentina over Rudolf Molleker, 207, Ukraine
Schwartzman, the 5’7” dervish from Argentina may be small but he’s tough as nails. He looked good last week in Sydney and he should take out the 18 year old Molleker, a rookie on the pro tour.
Alex de Minaur, 29, Australia over Pedro Sousa, 103, Portugal
The 19 year old de Minaur is maturing quickly into one tough out. He was last year’s Newcomer of the Year, and I think he’ll end this year in the Top 15. Sousa is a journeyman with too few weapons to give this rising star trouble.
Rafael Nadal, 2, Spain over James Duckworth, 238, Australia
Duckworth, a worthy player, has won over $1,300,000 in prize money. Nadal has won almost ONE HUNDRED TIMES THAT! Born right-handed, Nadal plays tennis left-handed, which, especially on the serve, is a marvel. He has 17 Grand Slam titles to his name, and he’s still only 32 years old. As he tries to win his 18th, Duckworth is just a stepping-stone.