Australian Open 2019 Preview – January 16th, 2019 at 1:30 am
This is second-round action from Melbourne Park at the Australian Open and we are focusing in on it because of the underdog. That will be America’s Amanda Anisimova, but the youngster is one of the best rising talents on the WTA. Can she step it up and take out her much more experienced opponent in the second round?
Lesia Tsurenko v Amanda Anisimova odds*
Lesia Tsurenko 8/13
Amanda Anisimova 13/10
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 14th, 2019 at 3:50 pm)
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Lesia Tsurenko, ranked 24th, came through her opening round match at Melbourne Park, not without a fight though. She took a 6-4 7-6 win over Ekaterina Alexandrovna in the first round. The 29-year-old Ukrainian player has only ever been past the second round of the Australian Open once before in her career and that was back in 2013. Last year at the US Open she did record her best ever finish at a Grand Slam, bowing out in the quarterfinals.
To her credit she had a good pre-Grand Slam warm up too, reaching the final of Brisbane where she lost against Karolina Pliskova in three sets. Along the way, she knocked out Anett Kontaveit and the second seed Naomi Osaka so she came out strongly for 2019. Will that be enough to see her past a tricky challenge of youngster Animsovoa.
Amanda Anisimova is one to watch for the 2019 season of the WTA. The 17-year-old can punch above her standing in the game. She had a good win in the first round in beating Monica Niculescu, who like Tsurenko, is a pretty experienced WTA player. Just for context, Anisimova is the youngest player currently ranked in the top 100. This is just her third appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam.
Again, she is only seventeen so the fact that she has already competed in the main draw at the 2017 French Open and at last year’s US Open says a lot about where she could go. Her win over Niculescu puts her through to the second round of a Slam for the first time. She has already played in a WTA Tour Final, losing to Hsieh Se-hei in Japan last year.
Prediction
Anisimova is a supreme young talent but raw. If Tsuruko hadn’t have come into the tournament on the back of great form, the chance of an upset may have been greater. We are just going to stick with the favourite in this one, but it’s well worth having a look at the underdog grabbing a set. Tsurenko to win 2-1 at 3/1 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 14th, 2019 at 3:50 pm).
