Australian Open Betting / Sean Calvert / 17 January 2010 /

Sean Calvert identifies a quintet of men to lay in the first round at Melbourne

James Blake [1.5] v Arnaud Clement [3.0]
Blake is a shadow of the player once ranked as high as number four in the world and now with his own clothing label to run, the American´s sights are firmly set on life after tennis.
Do not let a 7-0 head-to-head record against Arnaud Clement lead you to think that Blake is a cert to take out the Frenchman, as Clement has just reached the final in Auckland, beating the likes of Philipp Kohlschreiber, David Ferrer, Jurgen Melzer and Jeremy Chardy en route and he also performed well in Paris at the end of last season.
Clement is also a former finalist here and this battle of two tennis veterans might not be as easy for Blake as the odds suggest given that Blake has failed to better the last 16 in any tournament since Queens Club back in the summer of 2009 and that most of the pair´s seven clashes were a long time ago.

Sam Querrey [1.2] v Rainer Schuettler [4.8]
Don´t assume that this will be a cakewalk for Querrey as, since having surgery on his injured right forearm at the end of last year, the American has struggled to regain his form.
Three disappointing losses to the likes of Evgeny Korolev, Sergei Stakhovsky and James Blake at the start of this year prove that Querrey is fallible and at around [1.2] I wouldn´t be adding him to any list of first round multiples.
Schuettler isn´t exactly in the best of form and at 33 years of age he´s well into the veteran stage of his career, but he is a former finalist here and he often springs shocks in Slams, as was demonstrated during his 2008 run to the Wimbledon semis.

Richard Gasquet [1.62] v Mikhail Youzhny [2.82]
Gasquet´s form since his comeback from his overturned drugs ban has been impressive, culminating in his run to the final in Sydney, but after such a long break from tennis that effort might count against him in Melbourne.
This is arguably the pick of the first round matches and at the prices you would have to favour Youzhny after his stunning return to form towards the end of 2009.
The Russian leapt back up to number 20 in the world with fine efforts on the Asian swing and in Valencia and he holds a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over the Frenchman.
Gasquet has never done well in Melbourne, having suffered three first round exits (one to Youzhny) from his six starts and he´s never bettered the round of 16.
Look to back Youzhny in a match that could be a good one for trading.

Stanislas Wawrinka [1.2] v Guillermo Garcia-Lopez [5.5]
Stan endured a distinctly ordinary campaign in 2009, dropping out of the top 20 and suffering a raft of poor losses to inferior opposition - one such loss was in the second round in Hamburg to Garcia-Lopez.
The Swiss number two has never enjoyed his appearances in Melbourne - failing to do better than the last 32 in four tries and he might just have his work cut out in 2010.
His Spanish opponent by way of contrast enjoyed his best year on the tour in 2009, winning his first tournament in Kitzbuhel and climbing to his highest ever ranking of 41 in the process.
Garcia-Lopez stunned compatriot Carlos Moya, then ranked number five in the world, in Melbourne on his first appearance in the tournament and like Stan, has reached the last 32 here.
After winning the pair´s last clash easily in straight sets I would be avoiding the [1.2] on Stan like the plague.

Nicolas Almagro [1.72] v Xavier Malisse [2.3]
Almagro has a desperately poor record in Melbourne, having been beaten in the first round in four of his five attempts here by the likes of Bobby Reynolds and Robby Ginepri. The one time he did get past round one it took him five sets to beat Nicolas Massu.
If you also take into account the Spaniard´s plummeting ranking - he now stands outside the top 25 in the world - you have two reasons to take on that [1.72] quote about the man from Murcia.
Malisse on the other hand should be raring to go after having his drugs ban overturned and he played well here last year before falling to Andy Roddick in four tough sets. Reason enough, I reckon, to be on Malisse.

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