Aussie Open - Day 5

Not a lot stands out in the mens event, with plenty of matches which look foregone conclusions, but are short enough to leave well alone, and one match which looked to have potential, but which has shortened before we could do anything with it.

Andreas Seppi v Frances Tiafoe

We're going to back Seppi for a third straight match, as his underlaying numbers suggest he should probably be favourite in this match up.

Tiafoe has a pretty weak end to 2018, and has now won just four of his last 15 matches. He won just a single set in the Hopman Cup, and dropped out in Sydney in the first round. He then struggled past Prajnesh Gunneswaran before his excellent win over Kevin Anderson in the second round.

Seppi's preparation was much better - reaching the final in Sydney before eventually losing to Alex de Minaur - the Aussie won just four more points in that match, so it could easily have been a title in the bank for Seppi.

He has a great chance in this one, and we'll have a small bet at 21/20 with UniBet.

1pt Seppi to beat Tiafoe at 21/10 (UniBet)

Sloane Stephens v Petra Martic

Sloane Stephens may be World No.5 but we are backing against her when she faces Petra Martic. Martic recovered her best form in 2018 and is up to 32 in the world now, and will likely continue that upsurge in 2019.

Against players ranked 50-100 on hard courts last season she achieved a terrific 111.8% combined service/receiving pts %. That's off the scale for a player of her ranking, and crucially returned just a 6-2 winning record. Stephens by comparison returned a 107.8% combined record, so looks potentially vulnerable here.

Martic absolutely thrashed Heather Watson in round one - winning 85% of her service points and 57% of receiving points. 6-1 6-2 flattered Watson!

2pts Petra Martic to beat Sloane Stephens at 5/2 (Spreadex)

#Tennis