Australian Open Betting / Ben Caudell / 22 January 2011 /

Ben Caudell makes his Australian Open 2011 debut by telling us why Svetlana Kuznetsova should prove to be too good for the current French Open champion.

Andy Roddick (USA) v Stanislas Wawrinka (SWI) -

Stan 'the new man' who astonishingly announced the departure from his wife and child at the start of the year via a Twitter post, seems to have put his private life to the back of his mind and has instead focused all his efforts on his tennis commitments.

Forever known as the second best player to come from Switzerland, Wawrinka's upstart in form can be allied to his canny recruitment of Roger Federer's former coach, Peter Lundgren, in July of last year. This partnership has so far paid off with a notable quarter final appearances at the 2010 US Open where Stan defeated Andy Murray in the third round. With an impressive start to 2011 that already includes a tournament win under his belt - the Chennai Open - the powerful Swiss has started his Australian Open campaign full of confidence and is yet to drop a set.

Having already completed convincing wins over Gael Monfils, Grigor Dimitrov and Teymuraz Gabasvilli so far in Melbourne, Wawrinka extends his winning streak to eight in a row on hard courts, five in a row against big servers and he has won seven of his last eight at Grand Slam level.

Andy Roddick has so far struggled to put lesser opponents to the sword and according to Jim Courier ,who's a big A-Rod fan, the only remaining American in both men's and women's draws will find it tougher against a player of Wawrinka's calibre if his game doesn't dramatically improve. As always, Roddick relies heavily on his serve; against Haase the American was broken three times, twice in the first set. Stanislas will take advantage of any lapse in Roddick's service game. The Swiss hits the ball extremely hard on both sides, has a strong serve, and has been stepping into the court more often.

Stan is looking a lot more pumped and is starting to show more emotion on the court, hence the reason he is already looking a better player than during the 2010 season. Today's match represents another great chance for Wawrinka to reach his second Grand Slam quarter final in a row and what better way to do this than by putting Roddick to the sword.

Recommended Bet: Back Stanislas Wawrinka @ [1.93] to win match

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) v Francesca Schiavone (ITA) -

WTA veterans, Kuznetsova and Schaivone meet for the twelfth time in their illustrious careers with the Russian leading the head-to-head series 7-4. The standout statistic when deciding on a winner here is the fact that, of the five matches played on hard courts, Svetlana has won all five and in straight sets.

Schiavone, who doesn't like playing on hard-courts, is currently 6-4 on this surface and is struggling with a groin strain injury that she received whilst playing in the Hopman Cup. Italy's French Open champion dropped sets in her two opening matches against lesser opponents so will find it harder against a reformed Kuznetsova, who dispatched of second favourite Justine Henin in two sets in the previous round.

Schiavone has lost six matches in a row when priced as a moderate underdog and from her five matches against the Russian on hard, the Italian stalwart's losing margins have been, +8, +5,+4 and +7 games, therefore my recommendation is to back Kuznetsova to win by +4.5 Games and 2-0 in sets

Recommended Bets:

Back Kusnetsova 2-0 @ [2.0]
Back Kuznetsova -4.5 Games @ [2.0]

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