Australian Open Predictions: Day One, Nate

Here we go to the land down under. Tomorrow in Melbourne begins the Australian Open, the first Gland Slam of 2015. It will set the stage for the rest of the tennis season. Are the Top 4 losing their grip on the biggest stages of tennis? Which of the young guns will have a breakthrough tournament? Who will be the next big name to burst on the scene? The Aussie Open has all the answers.

At Lob and Smash, we will make daily predictions of the winners of each of the men’s matches. Read below to set the stage for Day 1 of what is certain to be a great two weeks down under.

Nate Slaymaker’s Round 1 Predictions

1st Half, Nadal’s Quarter

Tomas Berdych (7) d. Alejandro Falla

Jurgen Melzer d. Victor Estrella Burgos

Viktor Troicki d. Jiri Vesely

Leonardo Mayer (26) d. John Millman

Paul-Henri Mathieu d. Philipp Kohlschreiber (22)

Mathieu is a dangerous floater who has a variety in his game to give Kohlschreiber trouble. In the end, the Frechman’s veteran savvy will give him the upset victory.

Bernard Tomic d. Tobias Kamke

Tomic is the hometown darling of the Aussie Open…at least he was. It will be interesting to see how much backing he gets after some foolish mistakes in the past year or two. Is he the heir apparent to take the torch from Lleyton Hewitt? We’ve yet to find out.

Sam Groth d. Filip Krajinovic

Ernests Gulbis (11) d. Thanasi Kokkinakis

Kevin Anderson (14) d. Diego Schwartzman

Igor Sijsling d. Recardas Berankis

James Duckworth d. Blaz Kavcic

Richard Gasquet (24) d. Carlos Berlocq

As the No.24 seed Gasquet gets the shaft on to court 20 for his opening match. Berlocq has the tools to compete, but is most successful on clay. This match will be one of the outer court matches that draws more and more interest as it progresses.

Lukas Rosol (28) d. Kenny De Schepper

Dudi Sela d. Jan-Lennard Struff

Luke Saville d. Tim Smyczek

Rafael Nadal (3) d. Mikhail Youzhny

The draw did not do Rafa any favors. Youzhny is a veteran that has experience deep into the second week of Slams. I expect that Nadal will get down early and have to fight his way back to a win. Youzhny is no stranger to five set matches, but he will fall late to a resurgent Nadal. This clash is easily the best match of the first day.

1st Half, Federer’s Quarter

Andy Murray (6) d. Yuki Bhambri

Marinko Matosevic d. Alezander Kudryavtsev

Joao Sousa d. Jordan Thompson

Martin Klizan (32) d. Tatsuma Ito

David Goffin (20) d. Michael Russell

Marcos Baghdatis d. Teymuraz Gabashvilli

Lukas Lacko d. Maximo Gonzalez

Grigor Dimitrov (10) d. Dustin Brown

Tommy Robredo (15) d. Edouard Roger-Vasselin

Malek Kukushkin d. Mikhail Jaziri

Nick Kyrgios d. Federico Delbonis

With Hewitt aging and Tomic flailing, Krygios is the true torchbearer for the Aussies. Delbonis is no slouch and will make this match intriguing. Of course, this is a featured night match of opening day. Expect it to get loud and rowdy in Margaret Court Arena for this one!

Ivo Karlovic (32) d. Ruben Bemelmans

Jeremy Chardy (29) d. Borna Coric

Denis Istomin d. Andreas Seppi

Juan Monaco d. Simon Bolleli

Roger Federer (2) d. Yen Hsun Lu

Federer has faced Lu twice, once on the grass of Wimbledon. While losing in straight sets both times, Lu has taken the legend to 5-7 twice. It may start off interestingly, but Federer should cruz in the end.

Next: Lob and Smash 2015 Grand Slam Predictions

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