Tennis Picks for January 9th: Free Tennis Picks for Maks Kasnikowski vs Mathias Bourgue and Philip Sekulic vs Oriol Roca Batalla

Tennis Picks Today: January 9th

• Kasnikowski vs Bourgue: Kasnikowski to win
• Sekulic vs Roca Batalla: Sekulic to win

Nice to get a 2-0 day under our belts there on Monday. It serves as a great reminder that there is plenty of value to be found at the Challenger Tour level with the market not as sharp.

For Tuesday, let’s go back to the ATP Challenger Tour to look at Maks Kasnikowski vs Mathias Bourgue from the Oeiras Indoor 2, as well as Philip Sekulic vs Oriol Roca Batalla from qualifying at the Australian Open.

For more daily tennis tips, visit the bettingexpert community, but if you want more expert tips from Jon Reid, visit our Expert Insights section.

In this article:

• Maks Kasnikowski vs Mathias Bourgue Expert Tip
• Maks Kasnikowski Recent Form
• Mathias Bourgue Recent Form
• Maks Kasnikowski vs Mathias Bourgue H2H Stat of the Match
• Philip Sekulic vs Oriol Roca Batalla Expert Tip
• Philip Sekulic Recent Form
• Oriol Roca Batalla Recent Form
• Philip Sekulic vs Oriol Roca Batalla H2H Stat of the Match
• Safer Gambling

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Maks Kasnikowski vs Mathias Bourgue (Oeiras Indoor 2) Free Pick: Back Last Week’s Champion to Come Through Again Tuesday

• Pick: Kasnikowski to win
• Best Odds: 1.86
• Bookmaker: Pinnacle
• Stakes: 4/10

Odds as at 3:15 am UK Time on January 9th, 2023. Odds may now differ.

Whether we want to look at form, career trajectory or the abilities of either player, I struggle to see where Kasnikowski doesn’t have the advantage in this matchup.

Outside of the really strong first serve, there is very little that Bourgue does better than the youngster. Is there a chance he serves his way to a win here? Sure. Could Kasnikowski be coming down off a career moment and be a tad underwhelming? Possibly.

Do those two things make this as close of a contest as the odds and market would have you believe? Absolutely not.

This is one of those wagers that could lose and I’d be fine with making it again at the same odds. I just can’t agree with Kasnikowski barely being the favourite.

Read on for more Expert Insights.

Maks Kasnikowski Recent Form

Hard to say anything but positive things about the Pole’s recent form. He is coming off a title at this very venue a week ago in the Oeiras Indoor 1 Challenger event.

I still don’t know how high his ceiling is in terms of his talent and how high he can rise, but in the context of this match, he’s the much better player. He’s far more athletic, better from the baseline and more well rounded.

With the first serve being a weapon for him last week, he may also be able to bridge the gap that exists with the one thing Bourgue does better than him as well.

Mathias Bourgue Recent Form

Bourgue was also in Oeiras a week ago, but lost in the second round to Egor Gerasimov.

Last season saw the 29-year-old rack up plenty of victories, but that was more a byproduct of the number of tournaments he played and the fact that he’d fallen in the rankings to the point that he had to play his way through qualifying at a slew of Challenger level tournaments.

I certainly have him going in the wrong direction in terms of his career trajectory and am happy to oppose him with a more talented and in form young player at the given odds.

Maks Kasnikowski vs Mathias Bourgue H2H – Stat of the Match

These two have actually met before, and it was a result that could be construed as a relevant one. It happened just last year and was also played on indoor hard courts.

Kasnikowski emerged victorious in straight sets in that one. I’m not the biggest fan of weighing career head-to-heads much in most cases, but the betting market does tend to value that stat. Odd that we’re not seeing Kasnikowski as a bigger favourite, given that fact.

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Philip Sekulic vs Oriol Roca Batalla (Australian Open) Free Pick: Natural Hard Courter the Right Bet in Melbourne

• Pick: Sekulic to win
• Best Odds: 1.66
• Bookmaker: Pinnacle
• Stakes: 4/10

Odds as at 3:15 am UK Time on January 9th, 2023. Odds may now differ.

The Australian Open is here! No, not the main draw that will draw the eyeballs of millions in the coming weeks, but the qualifying draw got underway a day late due to rain to determine the final 32 entrants into the main field.

We’ll look to back a player with a big, powerful game against another who is far more natural on clay courts, where his underpowered style isn’t as vulnerable.

Read on for more Expert Insights.

Philip Sekulic Recent Form

The 20-year-old Aussie may be one to watch this season at the Challenger Tour level.

Armed with a big serve and forehand combination, 2023 served as a sort of breakout season for him.

After toiling away on the ITF Tour for quite some time due to his error-prone tendencies, Sekulic had a great run to the final of the Granby Challenger as a qualifier and then qualified for a pair of tour level tournaments in China as well.

Now, there were plenty of losses in the meantime, but every one of them was against a player that is most comfortable on hard courts, and he kept many matches against better players relatively close. He started off his campaign last week with another such loss to a strong quick-court player in James Duckworth.

I’m cautiously optimistic about his 2024 season, especially if he can keep bringing down the unforced error counts in his matches.

Oriol Roca Batalla Recent Form

Long a grinder on the ITF Tour and in lower-tier Challenger tournaments, I would be surprised if Roca Batalla is here for anything other than the paycheque.

Even qualifying prize money is pretty important if you can get it for players like Roca Batalla.

His game is predicated almost entirely on defensive prowess and waiting out opposition mistakes and he needs time to do that and to construct points to put himself in favourable conditions.

Playing on quick courts and against players with powerful games? Not the most conducive setting for his success.

Last season he played three matches on hard courts above the ITF level and went 1-2 with the win coming against an ageing Lukas Rosol. His losses? Came by an average of nine games.

Perhaps he’ll shock the young Australian, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Philip Sekulic vs Oriol Roca Batalla H2H – Stat of the Match

No head-to-head record to parse with these two. With Sekulic being young and the two of them preferring to play on opposing surfaces, it doesn’t come as the biggest surprise they’ve yet to run into one another.

It will provide Sekulic with a decent test of his rally tolerance and consistency, though I’d be surprised if that test was a stern one.

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SAFER GAMBLING

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