Australian Open Predictions: Day One, Geoff

The hotly anticipated first Grand Slam of the year is upon us and now that the draw has been made, the writers here at Lob and Smash have made their individual Australian Open predictions. With little in the way of form to judge the players on, the Melbourne major is one of the tournaments that is harder to predict.

Over the course of the fortnight, which is shaping up to be one of the closely contested Grand Slams of the last decade, the three of us will be making our daily picks on the action, accompanied by short explanations for possible upsets and big match-ups.

So go ahead and take a look through our picks and be sure to have your own say in the comments below!

Geoff Nichols’ Round 1 Predictions

1st Half, Nadal’s Quarter

Berdych (7) d. Falla

Melzer d. Burgos

Vesely d. Troicki

The two Champions from last week in Auckland and Sydney are brilliantly drawn against each other the in the first round. Both are rising the rankings at different times in their careers and I think youth will win out over experience narrowly, with Vesely having too much for Troicki.

Millman d. Mayer (26)

Millman showed his ability to step up his game in the big matches in his three set defeat to Millman and with the home crowd behind him, I think he can upset the 26th seed Mayer if he plays the attacking brand of tennis that made him unplayable, even against Roger Federer.

Kohlschreiber (22) d. Mathieu

Tomic d. Kamke

Groth d. Krajinovic

Kokkinakis d. Gulbis (11)

Another home player who can cause an upset in round one. Gulbis has improved his consistency over the last year or so, but is still liable for a surprise defeat or too. Kokkinakis will be able to play with minimal pressure as he goes in as the underdog, which should allow him to play his best tennis.

Anderson (14) d. Schwartzman

Sijsling d. Berankis

Kavcic d. Duckworth

Gasquet (24) d. Berlocq

Rosol d. De Schepper

Struff d. Sela

Saville d. Smyczek

Nadal (3) d. Youzhny

A lot of tennis fans will be predicting Youzhny to put Nadal to the sword in this opening round match and the Russian won’t roll over in the face of the world number 3. However, Nadal tends to up his game during Grand Slams and whilst his early 2015 form has been shaky, he should have enough to see off the experienced Youzhny.

1st Half, Federer’s Quarter

Murray (6) d. Bhambri

Matosevic d. Kudryavtsev

Sousa d. Thompson

Klizan (32) d. Ito

Goffin (20) d. Russell

Gabashvilli d. Baghdatis

Lacko d. Gonzalez

Dimitrov (10) d. Brown

Dimitrov has spoken of his belief that he could achieve big things at this year’s Australian Open, but if his form at the end of last season is anything to go by, he is quite a long way off making it to a Grand Slam final. Brown is not the shy and retiring type and will fancy an upset, possibly sneaking a set but not having the consistency to secure a win.

Robredo (15) d. Roger-Vasselin

Kukushkin d. Jaziri

Kyrgios d. Delbonis

Kyrgios has admitted that he is going into 2015 already exhausted and not in the shape he wants to be. Whilst he does seem like a future star, I think this match against Delbonis will be very close and could go either way. Hopefully the crowd can carry their man Kyrgios through.

Karlovic (32) d. Bemelmans

Chardy (29) d. Coric

Seppi d. Istomin

Bolleli d. Monaco

Federer (2) d. Lu

Today’s Picks: Nate Brandon

Next: Lob and Smash 2015 Grand Slam Predictions

More from Lob and Smash

Home/Andy Murray