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, Denis Shapovalov vs Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic vs Jeremy Chardy, 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
Taylor Fritz vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas
Steen:
Neither player is in great form right now. Fritz on a hard court should have the slightest edge, presuming he can defuse Ramos’ troublesome spin.
Prediction: Fritz in 4
Damian:
One of these matchups where the surface is vital to the result. Albert Ramos-Vinolas used to be a decent hard court player in his prime but it will be tough for him to derail such a hard-hitting puncher like Taylor Fritz. This should be rather comfortable.
Prediction: Fritz in 3
Yesh:
A year ago, I would have taken Ramos in this matchup. He’s always been better on clay than hard courts, but he was in strong form for a while. Right now, though, he’s not at his best, which means I’ll give Fritz the slightest of edges.
Dominik Koepfer vs Hugo Dellien
Steen:
Dellien has a H2H win. neither player is in great form and this is a coin flip but I’ll go with Koepfer to even the h2h in what looks like a five-setter.
Prediction: Koepfer in 5
Damian:
Hugo Dellien is considered a pretty much clay-court specialist only, but his performance in Australian Open qualifying (lost to Alcaraz in the final round) was actually pretty amazing. He could have a chance if he finds that level again but over five sets, Dominik Koepfer will likely be too solid.
Prediction: Koepfer in 4
Yesh:
On clay, I think I’d go with Dellien. At his best, Dellien can make deep runs on the surface. Unfortunately for him, this isn’t clay, and at his worst, Dellien just doesn’t play well. Koepfer, meanwhile, has real potential anywhere.
Prediction: Koepfer in 3
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Kimmer Coppejans vs Jiri Vesely
Steen:
Coppejans was good in qualifying but Vesely is the better player and should show it here.
Prediction: Vesely in 4
Damian:
Jiri Vesely retired after the first set against Felix Auger-Aliassime last week. It was a great effort from him to reach the quarterfinals though and with a couple of days of rest, it’s possible that the Czech will be fully fit here. Kimmer Coppejans has some great wheels but they might not be enough to answer Vesely’s power.
Prediction: Vesely in 4
Yesh:
Jiri Vesely is a much better player with potential star abilities. However, he has not been playing so well recently. Coppejans is in good form and can make a challenge of a match that Vesely should easily win if he was at his best.
Prediction: Vesely in 5
Nick Kyrgios vs Frederico Ferreira Silva
Steen:
As a reward for qualifying for his first Grand Slam main draw Ferreira Silva gets to face one of the biggest draws in tennis in his home slam. Kyrgios is the favourite and more than capable, but of course he can always go off the boil and that could lead to a defeat. Still he should serve his way to an opening round win.
Prediction: Kyrgios in 4
Damian:
Nick Kyrgios did not exactly fulfill the expectations this week and had a very stiff back in his match against Borna Coric. He still made it close with just his serve and frankly, that one shot should be good enough to win here. The Aussie’s ridiculous upside is likely to outweigh his possible fitness issue.
Prediction: Kyrgios in 4
Yesh:
Nick Kyrgios is nearly unbeatable when his game is on and he plays focused tennis. After a long pandemic break where he didn’t leave his quarantined country, the Australian will come out with all guns blazing. I expect Kyrgios to be one of the players to beat in this tournament, and this opening matchup won’t stop him.
Prediction: Kyrgios in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
