First-round competition at the Australian Open continues on Monday, when Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic are among those taking the court. Both sides of the draw on the men’s and women’s side are in action, so it is a jam-packed schedule of play with tons of betting opportunities.
Let’s take a look at the best bets to be made on the Day 2 schedule at Melbourne Park.
Stan Wawrinka ML over Laslo Djere (-116)
Should you feel comfortable rolling with a 40-year-old in a best-of-5 situation? In this case…yes! Wawrinka is a former Australian Open champion and he has reached the semifinals Down Under on 2 other occasions. This is his final trip to a tournament he absolutely loves. It would only be fitting if he begins his farewell with a victory. And he should. This is an extremely favorable first-round draw against Djere, who is utterly hopeless on any surface other than clay. The veteran Serb is an atrocious 102-127 all time on hard courts (57-74 outdoors). He got clobbered by Marcos Giron 6-2, 6-0 in the Hong Kong first round a couple of weeks ago. Look for Wawrinka to win this one quickly before stamina becomes any kind of factor.
Elizabeth Mandlik +4.5 games over Anna Bondar (-106)
The head-to-head series between Mandlik and Bondar is tied up at 1-1. Bondar’s victory came on clay, and she needed 3 sets to do it at the 2024 Rome event. Mandlik won their only previous hard-court contest in straight sets at the 2023 U.S. Open. That isn’t a surprise, either, given the surface. After all, Bondar is basically a clay-court specialist. The 28-year-old Hungarian has won 324 clay-court matches throughout her career compared to only 97 on outdoor hard courts. I have Mandlik winning this one outright, so 4.5 games is just a bonus.
Parlay: Jaume Munar ML over Dalibor Svrcina and Hamad Medjedovic ML over Mariano Navone (-124)
Munar is coming off a quarterfinal performance in Adelaide, where he upset Francisco Cerundolo before losing to eventual champion Tomas Machac. Svrcina has played only 1 match this season — a blowout loss to Medjedovic in Auckland qualifying. The 23-year-old Czech is a mere 6-8 lifetime at the ATP level. Meanwhile, Navone is utterly useless on hard courts. The Argentine is 13-30 all time on this surface (11-25 outdoors). He is 0-2 so far in 2026 with immediate losses in both Hong Kong and Auckland. Outside of the French Open (clay), Navone is showing up at Grand Slams strictly for the paycheck. Medjedovic played well in Auckland, where he reached the second round as a qualifier before losing to eventual champion Jakub Mensik in 3 sets.
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