2024 Australian Open Best Bets – Day 10
The 2023 tennis season feels like it ended just yesterday, but the 2024 Australian Open is here. We’re already into the second week of the event, and there’s going to be tons of high-level action in Melbourne Park over the next couple of days. That presents all sorts of opportunities for bettors. Throughout the course of the 2024 tennis season, VSiN will have you covered with daily best bet write-ups for some of the biggest events of the year. That starts with the 2024 Australian Open, and we’re tackling the action for January 22 and 23 here. Keep reading for all of my best bets and check back throughout the day. I’ll add some plays if I see some numbers I like later on.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts are betting!
2024 Record: 29-29 (-0.71 units)
Taylor Fritz vs. Novak Djokovic
Djokovic is a whole different beast at the Australian Open, and we saw that in his 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 win over Adrian Mannarino last match. But that match likely didn’t do much to prepare Djokovic for an in-form version of Fritz. The American is coming off one of the biggest wins of his career, as he needed only four sets to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas last round. That was his first win over a top-10 player at a major, and it should be the first of many. I’m not sure Fritz will actually be able to strike fear in Djokovic here, but I do like these odds for him to win a single set.
Fritz is one of the best servers on the planet, and that gives him a shot to get on the scoreboard in any match he plays — even against the best returner in the history of tennis. That said, I’m hoping Fritz can go out there and just handle his business on his serve. Eventually he’ll get a break point opportunity, and he just needs to find a way to convert — or win a tiebreaker. That might not seem likely, but Fritz actually played a five-set match against Djokovic in Melbourne back in 2021.
Bet: Fritz +2.5 Sets (+100 – 2 units) & Fritz +1.5 Sets (+275 – 0.5 units)
Marta Kostyuk vs. Coco Gauff
Gauff is one of the best players in the world right now, and her path to winning the Australian Open for back-to-back majors isn’t all that unreasonable. However, I don’t think the American is going to earn a straightforward win here. Kostyuk isn’t a very well-known player, but she is an underrated talent in the women’s game. She’s also a good match for Gauff, which is why these two played a highly competitive three-set match in Adelaide two years ago. Kostyuk is just capable of grinding opponents down, which is exactly what Gauff likes to do. That said, I think we’re going to see some phenomenal baseline play here, and that should allow Kostyuk to make her mark on the scoreboard. The Ukrainian is also a ridiculously good returner, and it seems like her serve is improving quite a bit. That should allow her to hang around. And the beauty of this play is that she doesn’t even need to win a set.
Bet: Kostyuk Over 6.5 Games Won (-130 – 2 units)
