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 Milos Raonic vs Federico Coria, Alexander Zverev vs Marcos Giron, Novak Djokovic vs Jeremy Chardy, 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), Eric, and Damian Kust.
Australian Open Day 1 Predictions
Gael Monfils vs Emil Ruusuvuori
Eric:
Ruusuvuori has been climbing up the ATP Rankings ladder pretty fast. The 21-year-old Finn is now in the top 100 and will be looking to break the top 50 sometime this year. I think he will struggle against Monfils who has more experience in five set matches and, more importantly, the Grand Slam stage. Expect a good battle, but the French veteran should prevail.
Prediction: Monfils in 3
Damian:
Gael Monfils was not fit to play at the ATP Cup, deciding not to compete anymore after the first match. This could have been a thriller but under these circumstances and with Monfils’ recent string of losses, it might actually turn out rather lopsided.
Prediction: Ruusuvuori in 4
Yesh:
Monfils is one of the most talented players in the world. He is often at risk of surprising losses, and Ruusuvuori is the type of player who can pull this off. I won’t pick against Monfils here, but I’m not very confident in him right now.
Prediction: Monfils in 4
Marton Fucsovics vs Marc Polmans
Eric:
21-year-old Marc Polmans entered via wild card and will come in with a “nothing to lose” attitude. But saying that, he will be aware of what Fucsovics brings to the table and will need to play one of the best matches of his life if he is to get through to the second round.
Prediction: Fucsovics in 3
Damian:
As much as Marton Fucsovics’s form is a bit of an unknown, he often seems to raise his level for important events and historically, played some of his best tennis Down Under. Marc Polmans lost the opener at Melbourne to Harry Bourchier and is not carrying much momentum into this one either.
Prediction: Fucsovics in 4
Yesh:
Fucsovics is an incredibly solid player who rarely loses to those worse than him, especially at big events. Polmans is not at his best right now, and won’t be able to hang with Fucsovics.
Prediction: Fucsovics in 3
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Reilly Opelka vs Yen-Hsun Lu
Eric:
A battle between youth and experience here. The 23-year-old American will be taking on 37-year-old Taiwanese player and it will be interesting who comes out on top. Both players are coming in with relatively weak form, but Opelka should edge it simply because he has played more matches recently, therefore more “match fit.”
Prediction: Opelka in 4
Damian:
Yen-Hsun Lu looked okay in his opening round loss to Aleksandar Vukic this week but doing the same against a better opponent and over at least three/four sets is a much tougher ask. It would make a great story if the 37-year-old managed to add some great wins in the twilight of his career but he doesn’t look ready for that yet.
Prediction: Opelka in 3
Yesh:
Reilly Opelka has the chance to make a deep run at Major tournaments. He’s much more than just a huge serve. Opelka doesn’t always play great from the baseline, but when he’s done he’s nearly unbeatable. Lu has the return to trouble big servers, but he’s been out of top-level competition for too long to hand with Opelka immediately.
Prediction: Opelka in 4
Denis Shapovalov vs Jannik Sinner
Eric:
n incredible first-round match up. Sinner is coming in with confidence and a title under his belt. Expect the Italian to cause an upset here in Down Under and dump the Canadian out in the first round.
Prediction: Sinner in 4
Damian:
What a blockbuster this could have been if not for Jannik Sinner’s success in the previous week. The tiredness factor should be too important in a match that seems so tight on paper. Hopefully there’s plenty of fireworks anyway, but the longer it goes, the better Denis Shapovalov’s chances get.
Prediction: Shapovalov in 4
Yesh:
This, without a doubt, is the best match of the opening round. Sinner’s conditioning may be in question, but quick turnarounds shouldn’t be much of a problem for a player of his age. He’s a beast on clay, but he’s also really good on hard courts. Shapovalov is no slouch, of course, and recently cracked the Top 10. This is likely a future Grand Slam final some day. Right now, I think Sinner is the better player, but just barely.
Prediction: Sinner in 4
Main Photo from Getty.
