Events / Sean Calvert / 11 January 2010 /

The big guns are all Down Under preparing for the start of the Australian Open on Sunday. So who does Sean Calvert expert to triumph over the next week in Sydney and Auckland?

It was an excellent start to 2010 for those who took my advice to back Marin Cilic and Rafa Nadal (with a view to trading on Nadal) in Chennai and Doha last week.

Cilic obliged at odds of around [3.0] and in the process defended an ATP Tour level title for the first time in his career. Added to that, Nadal held match points in the Qatar Open final and was available to lay at very short odds from the advised starting price of [3.25].

Let's see if we can keep that form going with this week's Australian Open warm-up tournaments in Sydney and Auckland...

Pretty much all of the big guns in mens tennis will be hitting in Kooyong in their exhibition event this week, but that is essentially a knock-around and holds no appeal as a betting medium. Kicking off in Auckland then and it's the Heineken Open, which is notable for a first round clash worthy of the final itself.

David Nalbandian began his comeback from a long-term hip problem just before Christmas and won an exhibition event in Argentina and because of his recent inactivity, his ranking has slipped to number 64 in the world.

This makes him a very dangerous floater if anywhere near his best and the unlucky player to meet the Argentine in the first round in Auckland is 2008 champion Phillip Kohlschreiber.

Nalbandian claims: "Both my tennis and physical fitness are at a high level." However, from the pictures I've seen of that exhibition win, he looks a tad on the podgy side. This is nothing new for the former world number three and if he gets past Kohlschreiber he has David Ferrer [6.5] and Nicolas Almagro [17] to contend with.

In the top half of the draw, expect Tommy Robredo [5.5] to go well after his defeat of Andy Murray in the Hopman Cup from a set down. The Spaniard reached the final in his only other appearance in Auckland (lost to Ferrer) in 2007 and the only real dangers to another shot at the title would be John Isner [13.0] and Juan Carlos Ferrero [6.5].

The Medibank International in Sydney looks another competitive affair and as with Brisbane last week I could make a case for quite a few in this field. The draw looks a little lopsided though, with several players that could go far placed in the top half.

Outright favourite and number one seed Gael Monfils joins compatriot Richard Gasquet and Chennai finalist Stan Wawrinka and longshots Leonardo Mayer and Michael Llodra, along with the inconsistent but dangerous duo Feliciano Lopez and Igor Andreev.
The bottom half appears to be a touch easier and it could be worth taking a chance on Marcos Baghdatis at odds of around [15.0].

The Cypriot will be going all out for this after taking a hammering from Tomas Berdych in Brisbane last week and hes been handed a nice-looking path to the latter stages if he's up for it.
His section contains Viktor Troicki, Florent Serra and Nick Lindahl, with a likely quarter final against four-time champion Lleyton Hewitt the prize.

Baghdatis' injury problems appear to be behind him and he'll feel as though he can do some damage in Melbourne once again, but first he needs a confidence boost.

Also in the bottom section is Berdych, who once again flattered to deceive in Brisbane after showing some fine form. Odds of around [5] are too low for me to be interested in the Czech though.

The last time that Hewitt won a hard court event was two years ago in Las Vegas and [7.5] seems very skinny for a player that rarely reaches finals these days.

So, all-in-all it looks a very difficult week for punters and this week I recommend investing a small portion of last week's winnings in a couple of quality performers at handy prices.

Recommendations:
Back to lay David Nalbandian to win in Auckland at around [18.0]
Back to lay Marcos Baghdatis to win in Sydney at around [15.0]

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