Australian Open: Evans can upset Auger-Aliassime

As the Australian Open enters its second weekend, it has been a case of so far, so good for the top seeds in the Men’s Singles draw, in contrast to that of their female counterparts.

Hubert Hurkacz is the only one of the leading ten men’s seeds to have been eliminated on the court, whereas the unpredictability of the women’s draw has again been evident with the in-form Garbine Muguruza and Anett Kontaveit both falling. Indeed, only nine of the leading 20 seeds in the Women’s Singles still stand, blowing the draw open notably for Simona Halep, who is now priced 7.8 second favourite to win the title.

More upsets possible in Women’s draw

Halep is unsurprisingly a short 1.07 to overcome Danka Kovinic in her fourth-round match, having gone 7-0 in 2022, coming off the back of a 6-2, 6-0 win over Beatriz Haddad Maia in a match she branded her best of the year. There should be no upset here.

Elsewhere, the seeds are in danger. Iga Swiatek bids to go into the quarter-finals for the first time against Daria Kasatkina, against whom she lost their only previous meeting, which was on the grass of Eastbourne. The Russian’s price of 3.65 is tempting.

No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka is in greater danger. The Belarusian has had to come from a set down in both her previous matches and plays the dangerous Marketa Vondrousova, who has progressed with ease in her two matches. The Czech No.31 seed is 1.7 favourites to win that one, while the WTA World No.2 is a 2.4 outsider to make the fourth round for just a second time.

Meanwhile, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova should prove too strong for Sorana Cirstea at 1.46. While the pair have a career head-to-head record that reads 3-3, they have not played since the Russian’s rise inside the Top 15 while Cirstea’s victories have all been on clay.

Evans can continue run

In the Men’s Singles, No.2 seed Daniil Medvedev will return to court after provoking the local crowd by branding those shouting ‘Siuuu’ during his four-set win over Nick Kyrgios as “having a low IQ”. While this is unlikely to endear him to the Melbourne fans, his odds of 1.05 reflect how heavy a favourite he is to overcome Botic van de Zandschulp, who is an 18.0 outsider.

Similarly, Stefanos Tsitsipas should have too much artillery for Benoit Paire and is 1.12 to improve his 3-1 head-to-head with the Frenchman. The Greek has won both their only two outdoor hard court meetings in straight sets, so is worth consideration at 1.76 to win 3-0.

Jannik Sinner should stop the run of Andy Murray’s conqueror Taro Daniel, with the Italian 1.1 to continue his smooth progress towards the second week.

The greatest hope of an upset in the Men’s draw is Dan Evans, who tackles No.9 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. Evans has won the only previous meeting between the players on Australian hard court, but has had easy progress to the third round, in contrast to his Canadian opponent, who laboured to a five-set victory over Emil Ruusuvuori in round one then won three of four tie-breaks to eliminate Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Evans is 2.1 to get the win, with Auger-Aliassime 1.9.

Recommended bets:

Marketa Vondrousova @ 1.7
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova @ 1.46
Dan Evans @ 2.1