The first Grand Slam tournament of the year kicks off in Melbourne. It’s been a strange path to get here, but we’re finally here. Day 1 of the Australian Open will begin Monday morning, Melbourne time, and we’re here to predict every match for you. With 32 men’s matches, that means we’re splitting up the matches between eight articles. Make sure you don’t miss our other predictions as well, featuring Novak Djokovic vs Jeremy Chardy, Alexander Zverev vs Marcos Giron, Denis Shapovalov vs Jannik Sinner, Nick Kyrgios vs Frederico Ferreira Silva, Stan Wawrinka vs Pedro Sousa, Grigor Dimitrov vs Marin Cilic, and Dominic Thiem vs Mikhail Kukushkin.
Predicting this set of matches are myself (Yesh Ginsburg), Steen Kirby, and Damian Kust.
Australian Open Day 1 Predictions
Taro Daniel vs Maxime Cressy
Steen:
Daniel has a H2H win. Neither of these players are worldbeaters but Cressy is more likely to falter under pressure.
Prediction: Daniel in 5
Damian:
With his hyper-aggressive serve-and-volley style and basically two first serves, Maxime Cressy is an absolute nightmare to play against. This should be extremely tight with perhaps the reportedly fast conditions giving the slight edge to the American.
Prediction: Cressy in 5
Yesh:
Look, I’ll admit that I can’t fairly predict Cressy’s matches. Maxime Cressy is, without question, the most interesting player on tour. He bombs two first serves, comes into net after every serve, and always looks to attack. He’s so much fun to watch. I don’t know if I actually think he’ll win. But I do know that I want to see more of his matches, so I’ll pick him.
Prediction: Cressy in 5
Benoit Paire vs Egor Gerasimov
Steen:
Gerasimov has a H2H win against Paire, who hasn’t won a match since the French Open. Headspace determines Paire’s fate in most matches and he’s clearly not in a good headspace right now.
Prediction: Gerasimov in 4
Damian:
Benoit Paire got badly sunburnt after coming out of quarantine and looked like he was having issues breathing at the ATP Cup. Being in even mild discomfort can make the Frenchman lose interest and no doubt Egor Gerasmov is good enough to clean up if Paire is not up to play mentally.
Prediction: Gerasimov in 4
Yesh:
Paire seems to not be mentally all there right now, though with Paire that can switch from match to match. The Frenchman has the talent to make this a matchup, but I don’t think we can expect him to pull that off right now.
Prediction: Gerasimov in 3
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Elias Ymer vs Diego Schwartzman
Steen:
Schwartzman has a h2h win against the qualifier Ymer. Ymer is capable but I’ll go with the more steady and accomplished player here.
Prediction: Schwartzman in 3
Damian:
Elias Ymer has been pretty great at Grand Slam qualifying in his career but couldn’t really follow it up in the main draw. He probably won’t go deep here either as Diego Schwartzman should have way too much consistency and great defense to get hit off the court here.
Prediction: Schwartzman in 3
Yesh:
Schwartzman looked pretty solid at the ATP Cup, though not enough to stick with Daniil Medvedev. Then again, Ymer is nowhere near Medvedev’s level. Schwartzman shouldn’t have trouble.
Prediction: Schwartzman in 3
Milos Raonic vs Federico Coria
Steen:
Raonic on a hard court against a player who prefers clay; this should be straightforward although the Canadian is not the player he was at his peak.
Prediction: Raonic in 3
Damian:
Federico Coria is not exactly a hard court specialist and Milos Raonic seems to be finally fit. While he did lose to Struff at the ATP Cup, it feels like the Canadian could be one of the potential dark horses in this tournament. It would be a massive surprise if he fell in round one.
Prediction: Raonic in 3
Yesh:
Raonic looks to be playing really well from the baseline. His monster serve means he’ll always be in matches. When he’s moving well and staying in rallies on return, almost no one can beat him.
Prediction: Raonic in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
