Ben Shelton and Alejandro Tabilo will two of those in action at the Australian Open 2025 whose first round matches will be held over three days between January 12 and 14. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Melbourne.
- Get all the remaining tennis betting tips and predictions of the day here
- Also read what’s a Tennis Betting Accumulator here
Ben Shelton v Brandon Nakashima Preview
Head-to-Head: These players have played each other twice before this with Shelton having both times – in Houston and Washington.
Ben Shelton could be excused for thinking this is a very tough first round match to have especially given that at the the rank of 37th in the world, Brandon Nakashima is the highest-ranked any seeded player is facing in his opener.
Add that to the fact that Shelton hasn’t had a top start to the season and he might be a bit concerned going into this Australian Open opener.
In the only match Shelton has played so far this year, Jakub Mensik downed him in three sets in Auckland and the American then opted to not take part in any competitions the following week.
What’s interesting to note here is that even Brandon Nakashima hasn’t started well.
Ranked two away from his career-best of 35th, Nakashima was knocked out of the Hong Kong Open in the very first round and then scraped through to the second round in Adelaide before losing to Rinky Hijikata.
This evens things up from the perspective of their form but Shelton’s got the wood on his opponent and should start a favourite here.
Shelton v Nakashima prediction: Shelton to win: 1/2
Alejandro Tabilo v Roberto Carballes Baena Preview
Head-to-Head: Tabilo and Carballes Baena have never faced off before this.
Alejandro Tabilo is a rising star and entered this season on the back of his first two career titles at this level and a career-high ranking of 19th in the world.
That confidence might have been dented a little this year with Tabilo suffering successive opening round losses in Brisbane and Auckland, one of them as a defending champion.
Making it worse was the fact that the opponents weren’t your typical run-of-the-mill top 10 players – Benjamin Bonzi and Nishesh Basavareddy might have had their days in the sun but Tabilo would think he should have won both.
Roberto Carballes Baena has always been known as a clay-courter but over the last couple of seasons he has begun to signs of improvement elsewhere too.
Take the case of 2024 where he made the quarterfinals in Auckland and Hangzhou and the third round at the Shanghai Masters. And he’s begun well enough this year to enter the last eight stage in Auckland again.
He might have all the ammo to test the top players here at the Australian Open but Carballes Baena’s hard-working style might pay off to an extent in this opener.
Tabilo v Carballes Baena prediction: Over 3.5 in the match: 3/5
James Duckworth v Dominic Stricker Preview
Head-to-Head: Duckworth and Stricker have never faced off before this.
James Duckworth has been forced to frequent the Challenger circuit to try and keep himself in the top 100 of the ATP Rankings but he needs a deeper run at the higher levels.
The last time he won successive rounds on the ATP circuit was in Brisbane more than 12 months ago and since then he has won just one main draw match in a hardcourt competition.
This year, Duckworth failed to qualify for the Brisbane International while scraping through to the main draw in Adelaide before bowing out to Li Tu in his opener.
So while Dominic Stricker has fallen to nearly outside the top 300 on the ATP Rankings, he will come into this encounter with some hope. Where that hope could turn into a few question-marks is his own form this season which has seen him feature in three matches and lose all three.
Two of them came at the United Cup while the third was a defeat at the hands of the off-colour Adrian Manarino in the Auckland qualifiers.
What this could mean is that we might see a tough battle that goes the distance.
Duckworth v Stricker prediction: Over 3.5 sets in the match: 3/5
Kei Nishikori v Thiago Monteiro Preview
Head-to-Head: Their only previous meeting came all the way back in 2019 at Wimbledon where Nishikori won in straight sets.
Having finished the 2021 season ranked 47th in the world, the former world number four Kei Nishikori disappeared from the circuit the following year because of fitness-related issues.
Nishikori proper return in 2024 did help as he improved from being outside the top 35 a year earlier to 106 at the end of 2024 but his true return to form has been on display this season.
The Japanese player opted to participate in the Hong Kong Open in the first week of the season and defeated Denis Shapovalov, Karen Khachanov, Cameron Norrie and Juncheng Shang to make it to the final.
And while he lost to Alexandre Muller there, that result had meant that Nishikori had jumped up to 74th in the world.
That would be a huge boost to the morale and now going up against a clay-court specialist in Thiago Monteiro he should be a huge favourite to win his first match at the Australian Open since 2019.
Nishikori v Monteiro prediction: Nishikori to win in straight sets: 6/4
Other Australian Open 2025 Predictions of the Day
- TBA
