Round One Recap for Australians at Wimbledon
Australian sports fans and bettors have been following their fellow nationals as they take on the competition at Wimbledon. Plenty of Aussies around the country are using the best sports betting appsto wager on the action.
The first Australian to grace the courts of the All England Club at Wimbledon 2023 was Max Purcell who faced a tough draw as he was matched up with seven seed Andrey Rublev. Purcell was unable to solve the powerful Russian as he fell in straight sets.
It appeared as though Jordan Thompson was set to suffer the same fate after falling behind two sets to none against young American Brandon Nakashima. But the gritty veteran found his game in set number three and behind a strong serving performance that included 16 aces he was able to battle back and win the match in a thrilling five setter.
Wimbledon newcomer Aleksandar Vukic impressed in his debut winning 79% of his first serve points and dispatching of Daniel Altmaier in four sets to progress to the second round of a Grand Slam for just the second time in his career.
Fellow Wimbledon rookie Storm Sanders was unable to replicate Vukic’s success losing in straight sets to Wang Xinyu.
Australia’s other female participant Daria Saville was forced to deal with the rain delay which postponed her match whilst she was leading 6-5 on serve in set one. She would go on to fall in a tiebreak and ultimately lose in two straight.
Chris O’Connell and Alexei Popyrin also had the nuisance of their opening round matches being halted part way through due to the rain. Jason Kubler and Alex De Minaur had their matches suspended prior to them beginning.
Popyrin would go onto lose in a five-set thriller against Dominic Stricker in heartbreaking fashion as he dropped the final set 7-5.
O’Connell, who won the first set prior to the rain delay, is slated to resume play on day three.He was a heavy favourite at -750 when rain forced the suspension.Kubler and De Minauralso had their matches rescheduled and all three may be amid play or having just finished as you’re reading this in which case you can follow the link below for live score updates.
According to most betting sites Kubler began the day as a slight underdog at +130 in his matchup with Ugo Humbert while De Minaurwas a heavy favourite at -3000 against Qualifier Kimmer Coppejans.
Second Round Outlook and Odds
After his inspiring showing in round one Thompson was rewarded with seven-time Wimbledon Champion Novak Djokovic in round two. Heading into the match Thompson was a massive +2000 underdog. He fought hard taking set number two to a tie break but the all-time great proved too difficult to solve as Novak took it in straight sets.
Vukic was not as unlucky with his draw as Quentin Halys upset 27th seeded Dane Evans to set a date with Vukic in round two. Betting sites currently have Halys as the slight favourite with odds around -140 while Vukic is not a long shot by any means at +120.
Should De Minaur progress as is expected he will be favoured in his second-round matchup against either Matteo Berrettini or Lorenzo Sonego. If Kubler upsets Humbert, he will likely face 25th seeded Nicolas Jarry in a matchup where he will be a heavy underdog.
O’Connell would see the winner of Sebastian Korda and Jiri Vesely should he advance into round two and would likely be the underdog in a matchup with either.
