Ricky Dimon
Show Bio
Admittedly, things have gone south for me over the past two days at the Australian Open; my futures plays on Daniil Medvedev and Ons Jabeur are done and dusted. But we are still well in the green for the whole tournament after going 2-1 on Saturday’s best bets and my outrights on Jessica Pegula, Caroline Garcia and Stefanos Tsitsipas are all alive and well.
Now it’s time to cash some more winners on Sunday. It’s the start of fourth-round action, so the first quarterfinalists on both the men’s and women’s side will soon be determined. Among those looking to punch their QF tickets at the season’s first Grand Slam are Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Sebastian Korda.
Let’s take a look at the best bets to be made on the Day 7 schedule.
You can bet on the Australian Open at DraftKings Sportsbook, which has some of the best futures odds available and a great new customer offer where you can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets instantly! Click here to sign up to DraftKings.
Jiri Lehecka +5.5 games over Felix Auger-Aliassime (-120)
Lehecka started to make a name for himself last year, mainly by finishing runner-up at the NextGen ATP Finals. At this rate he will soon be a household name. The 21-year-old Czech booked his spot in round four by upsetting #11 seed Cameron Norrie, which was preceded by a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 destruction of #21 Borna Coric. Auger-Aliassime has been shaky, dropping two sets to Alex Molcan and one against both Vasek Pospisil and Francisco Cerundolo. I would put some on the +313 money line, as well.
Lin Zhu +6 games over Victoria Azarenka (-130)
Luckily for us, the market has not adjusted to how well Zhu is playing. The 28-year-old from China won 41 matches last season, including 34 on hard courts. She reached the quarterfinals in Auckland earlier this month and is now coming off a second-round rout of Jil Teichmann (6-2, 6-2). Although Azarenka continues to have a high ceiling, her floor is much lower than it was during her prime. Heading into the Australian Open the 33-year-old Belarusian was just 2-2 this season with losses to Veronika Kudermetova and world #102 Linda Noskova. Six games are a lot — and they should be more than enough for Zhu.
Parlay: Jessica Pegula ML over Barbora Krejcikova and Karen Khachanov ML over Yoshihito Nishioka (+114)
Pegula was my best outright bet on the women’s side before the tournament started, and to say that I’m happy with the pick so far would be a gross understatement. The world #3 cruise past her first three opponents in easy straight sets, including a 6-0, 6-2 humiliation of Marta Kostyuk on Friday. Krejcikova is also playing well and is a Grand Slam champion, but she has cooled off since lifting the Roland Garros trophy in 2021. The Czech would much rather face Pegula on a clay court. At the Aussie Open, where Pegula reached the quarterfinals in 2022, the American should have the edge.
As for the men’s match in this parlay, Khachanov advanced to the semis of the last hard-court major (2022 U.S. Open). He has also reached the quarters at both the French Open (2019) and Wimbledon (2021). Nishioka has never been past this stage of any Grand Slam and this is only his second time in the third round (previously the 2020 Aussie Open). The Japanese left-hander also benefited from a favorable first-week draw; he got to play an injured Mackenzie McDonald on Friday instead of Rafael Nadal. I like Khachanov to roll.
The Pickswise tennis handicappers are on hand throughout the entire tennis season, bringing you the best free expert Tennis Predictions and Picks from top events including the U.S. Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
