Australian Open preview and odds: Novak Djokovic vs Quentin Halys

Published on: 19/01/2016

Australian Open preview and odds: Novak Djokovic vs Quentin Halys

January 20 2016 19:00pm - Rod Laver Arena

Australian Open - Round 2

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will continue his quest for a sixth Australian Open crown on Wednesday against 19-year-old Frenchman Quentin Halys.

One defeat in 34 for Djokovic

Novak Djokovics finished 2015 with an incredible 86-5 record, with three of those five defeats coming against Roger Federer. With the exception of the Round Robin defeat to Federer in the ATP World Tour Finals, all of his defeats came in tournament finals.

The Serb started this season with another title after defeating Rafa Nadal in Doha, and he comes into this event on the back of nine straight wins since the WTF blip against Federer.

Djokovic got his Australian Open campaign underway with a 6-3 6-2 6-4 stroll past Hyeon Chung of China, and is clear favourite to grab his 11th Grand Slam title. He will now face unseeded French youngster Quentin Halys for the first ever time.

Quentin Halys preparing for onslaught

Quentin Halys has done well just to get to this stage of the tournament after battling past Ivan Dodig in the first round. He needed four sets and nearly three and a half hours to secure a 6-4 6-7(4) 6-4 7-5 victory over the Croatian on Monday.

The Frenchman is featuring in just his second Grand Slam event after receiving a wild card for the French Open last year. On that occasion he was beaten in the first round by reigning-champion Rafa Nadal, and he now finds himself up against the title-holder once again in the form of Djokovic.

An upset is unlikely but the match will give the young player a chance to gauge his ability against the best available meter.

Betting odds and tips

Djokovic is priced at an incredible 1/200 for this match and as a result, value may be hard to find.

However, in the Total Games market, Bet365 will give you a fair price of 4/6 for a Total of 23-28 games.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 19/01/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (19/01/2016 12:23:33) but are subject to change.