Jelena Ostapenko v Maria Sakkari

I was surprised to see Jelena Ostapenko priced up as the outsider against her first round opponent. She is a Grand Slam champion in her own right, winning the French in 2017 and although hard courts are her least preferred surface, I don’t see this as reason enough for her to be 11/8.

Ostapenko can be very erratic due to her aggressive style but when she is on-song she can blast away her opponents in no time. Maria Sakkari didn’t even get past the 1st round last year and I think that will be the case again.

Ostapenko - 2pts @ 11/8

Kyle Edmund v Tomas Berdych

Both players won’t have been pleased to draw each other in the first round here. Melbourne Park has proved a happy hunting ground for Thomas Berdych, reaching the quarter-finals in seven of the last eight years. Meanwhile Kyle Edmund reached the semi-finals of a grand slam for the first time in this tournament last year.

This match won’t be short of quality and I'd make Berdych the slight favourite, so whilst the 7/4 on the Englishman was very tempting I'd want a slightly bigger price. I think this match will go deep and if it goes to 5 sets, Berdych has the edge. He has the 4th best 5-set record of all active players (72.4%), so I’ll be backing 3-2 in the Czech’s favour at 5/1.

Berdych 3-2 - 1pt @ 5/1