Aussie Open Day 6
The Aussie Open seems to be absolutely flying by, and we are already heading towards Day 6. Scores on the doors so far (up to settled Day 4 bets) have seen us suggest 15 selections, recommend 30.25 pts staked and returned a profit of 0.9pts. It’s not a lot to show for it, but a 3% return on investment is better than a kick in the balls isn’t it?
Anyway, onto Day 6, where we are going to take another chance in opposing the well fancied Alexander Zverev - this time backing another young up and coming player - Hyeon Chung. The Korean has posted some really nice looking numbers over the past season and while he doesn’t have the biggest serve, his ability to get the ball back in play and then work his way into points has seen him rise to 58th in the world so far - he’s sure to continue that climb as well in our view.
Chung came past Daniil Medvedev with ease in round two winning 7-6 6-1 6-1, and a first round retirement from Mischa Zverev meant he wasn’t on court too long that day either. With the heat as it is in Melbourne this week, that has to be a positive. He’s spent less than three hours on court so far.
Chung won the Next Gen ATP Finals at the end of last season, confirming his place among the future stars of the show and knocked out John Isner in Brisbane, so should be respected. Hard courts are also his thing.
Zverev is a supreme talent of course - 4th in the world and capable of mixing it with the best on his day. It hasn’t been his day as often as he’d like though recently, and has stumbled into the third round in unconvincing manner so far in matches he was expected to fly through. He also lost to Thanasi Kokkinakis in the Hopman Cup, and also struggled to finish last season in the manner he had expected. In short, he’s a potential 3rd round shock exit, and at 7/4 we’ll give Chung a chance in this.
1pt Chung to beat Zverev at 7/4
Our other pick is Juan Martin Del Potro when he meets Tomas Berdych. The Argentine is back into the world top 10 and looks every bit the talent who first emerged. While his time out of the game was frustrating, it may well have helped him come back fresher, and he now looks a much more accomplished player than Berdych.
Del Potro reached the final in Auckland (January) and Basel (October) and won Stockholm. Roger Federer knocked him out of the semi-finals in Shanghai and Nadal did the same in the US Open, but it’s hard to say he’s done much wrong in the last 6 months.
Berdych by contrast ended the season with a whimper last year, as he won just twice since the start of August. He was the beaten favourite in ties with Andrey Rublev, Del Potro, Alexandr Dolgopolov and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
There should be a solid favourite in this one and the opportunity to back Del Potro at 8/11 must be taken.
4pts Del Potro to beat Berdych