Australian Open Betting Tips: Hot, hot, hot

Australian Open Betting / Ben Caudell / 18 January 2009 / Leave a Comment

Things are reaching boiling point in Melbourne but has Ben Caudell got any hot tips for day one of the year's first Grand Slam?

The wait is nearly over, the first Grand Slam of the year kicks off on Monday 19th January and believe me, it's going to be hot, very hot......

The forecast for the opening day in Melbourne is 90 degrees (F) with 70 % humidity, not the sort of temperature for the faint hearted and definitely not the sort to play a close five set match in. The Australian Open is notorious for uncomfortable playing conditions so it's not surprising to see that the organisers have had to introduce an 'Extreme Heat Policy' to regulate when conditions are not viable for players to compete.

Andy Roddick begins proceedings in the Rod Laver Arena against qualifier Bjorn Rehnquist with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer playing on the same court later on in the day.

This is only the second year of using the Plexicushion surface which retains less heat and also achieves more consistency around the court meaning a lot more rallies and exciting matches to look forward too.

Day one selections

Paul Henri Mathieu v Jarkko Nieminen: On paper this looks to be one of the best match-ups of the first round. Nieminen has been in scintillating form of late, beating Feliciano Lopez, Jo- Wilfred Tsonga, and Novak Djokovic this week. He reached the Quarter Finals at last year's Aus Open losing to Rafael Nadal and also has a 2 -0 head-to-head over Mathieu of which both were played on a hard court. Mathieu recently lost to another inform left hander Fernando Verdasco 6-2 6-1 and has an overall 5-5 record against the lefties.

Selection: Back Jarkko Nieminen at [1.8] to win the match

Anne Keothavong v Anna Chakvetadze: Londoner Keothavong is playing for the first time in the Australian Open main draw and has a great chance of upsetting number 17 seed Anne Chakvetadze. These two have met twice before with the Russian winning both, however both these matches were played over five years ago. Keothavong is now starting to reach the upper echelons of the women's game having had her best ever start to the 2009 season, winning eight and losing only two of her last ten matches. In stark contrast, Anna Chakvetadze has won only 2 of her last 10 matches and is struggling to find any form.

Selection:

Lay Chackvetadze 2-0 at [2.1].

Back Keothavong at [3.5] and lay off when she wins a set.