It is less than a week before the first Grand Slam event of the season, the Australian Open, and some players are getting ready by playing in the Apia International Sydney. Although this is event is held in Australia, all of the top players in the world have chosen to bypass this tournament. The top seed in this event is Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and he is ranked just No. 23 in the world. This event looks to be wide open, as any of the seeded players could win this tournament and it would not be a shock to see an unseeded player take the title.
Apia International Sydney Odds
Gilles Muller +900
Diego Schwartzman +1200
Alexander Dolgopolov +1200
Gilles Simon +1200
Philipp Kohlschreiber +1200
Adrian Mannarino +1400
Alberto Ramos-Vinolas +1400
Damir Dzumhur +2500
There is not much separating the top eight seeds in tennis odds in this event. Vinolas is the top seed, but he isn’t getting any more betting action than are some of the other seeded players like Fabio Fognini, Adrian Mannarino or Philipp Kohlschreiber. Muller is actually the favorite to win this event at odds of +900, and then there are four players listed at +1200, and two more listed at +1400.
Top Contenders
Ramos-Vinolas is the top seed and a contender to win this title, but I think he is overvalued, as he rarely plays well on hardcourts. Oddsmakers seem to agree with that assessment, as Ramos-Vinolas is the sixth choice in the betting. Gilles Muller is the second seed and an obvious choice. Not to be ignored are Fognini, Mannarino and Mischa Zverev.
Seeds
- Albert Ramos-Vinolas
- Gilles Muller
- Diego Schwartzman
- Fabio Fognini
- Adrian Mannarino
- Phillipp Kohlschreiber
- Damir Dzumhur
- Mischa Zverev
Matchups to Watch
The first four seeds all have byes into the second round. In the first round I like Fernando Verdasco to get past Alex De Minaur. I like Verdasco to continue his success into at least the semifinals. The bottom half of the draw is all about Muller but Diego Schwartzman is worth following in his early matchups.
A couple of go-against players who have tough travel to get to Sydney are Benoit Paire and Victor Troicki. Both players should be go-against in their first round matches.
Watch out for Kohlschreiber who has a very favorable draw. His top competition could be Ramos-Vinolas and I like Kohlscreiber to get past him in a probable quarterfinal matchup. Their only previous meeting was in 2013 and it was Kohlschreiber winning. Don’t forget about Mannarino who has a good draw. The quarterfinal matchup will likely be Fognini against Mannarino. These two have met three times previously, with Mannarino winning twice.
I think it will be Muller making the final and facing Kohlschreiber, Fognini or Mannarino. Kohlschreiber has owned Muller, winning all three of their previous matchups. Muller has dominated Mannarino, winning all three of their previous matches, while Muller defeated Fognini in their only previous matchup.
Event Notes
Muller won this event in 2015 and 2016, while Troicki won it the previous two years. The conditions in Sydney have seen extremely hot temperatures and very fast surfaces. In the last three years, the courts have been a little bit quicker than the hard court averages in other events. Big servers should have an advantage because of the fast surfaces.
Tennis Picks
Gilles Muller, Grigor Dimitrov, Juan Martin del Potro and Bernard Tomic have all done well in this event in recent years, as has Viktor Troicki, but it is hard to like Troicki based on his rotten current form. Muller is my top choice to win this event, as he has a big server and a former champion. I also think Philipp Kohlschreiber, Fernando Verdasco and Mischa Zverev are also worth a look and each should give us a lot of value throughout this event.
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