The first round comes to an end this Tuesday with the players from the bottom half of the draw on the men’s competition in action. Bookmakers Review breaks down the fixtures below and lists the best available odds from green listed bookmakers.
Haas vs. Paire
Looking to the matches scheduled for this Tuesday, the contest between Tommy Haas and Benoit Paire clearly deserves a closer look.
Haas makes his return to the ATP World Tour after 14 months away from competition. Despite his long absence, Tommy said that he’s been training without any pain on his shoulder for more than two months. The German steps on court this Tuesday as the big underdog, which makes him even more dangerous since he’s got nothing to lose.
Paire is never an easy opponent do face due to his unpredictability. Even though Benoit can produce an outstanding level of tennis, it’s not unusual to see the French losing sets or even matches with an absurd amount of unforced errors. Looking now to Paire’s results on Grand Slam events throughout his career, only 19.15% of the matches ended with a straight sets victory from the French.
Due to Tommy’s lack of competitive rhythm, the bookmakers consider Paire the main favourite for this match at 1/5 at William Hill while Haas is available at 7/2 at Bet365. Even though it’s unlikely to see Haas winning the match, there is clear value on the German to take at least one set on this match. Therefore, Tommy’s +2.5 Set Handicap at 3/4 at Pinnacle is clearly the best betting approach for this contest.
Thompson vs. Sousa
Jordan Thompson and João Sousa will face each other this Tuesday with a place in the second round at stake.
After reaching the Australian Open 3rd round in his last two appearances, Sousa is looking for another successful campaign on this event. João arrives in Melbourne after a tremendous run in Auckland, losing only in the ASB Classic final against Jack Sock. Known for his aggressive forehand, the Portuguese dominated all his opponents throughout the week with that shot.
Thompson is trying to make the transition to the ATP events after a very successful season on the Challenger Tour. This is already Jordan’s third tournament in 2017 with the Australian losing only against high-quality players such as Kei Nishikori and Philipp Kohlschreiber. Despite Thompson’s undeniable quality, it’s not easy for the Australian to keep a consistent level when facing top players.
Even though Thompson will have a very strong support from the crowd, that shouldn’t be enough to overcome Sousa’s baseline game. The Portuguese won their previous meeting two years ago at the Australian Open first round and the same should happen here. With this in mind, Sousa is the right play at 67/100 at Ladbrokes while Pinnacle offers 137/100 for Thompson’s victory.
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