It’s not often we find ourselves previewing a doubles tennis match here at Before You Bet, but the Australian Open Men’s Doubles storyline has taken the nation by storm over the past few weeks and it’s set to climax on Saturday night with an all-Aussie final from 8.45pm.
Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis will take on Matthew Eden and Max Purcell in the final following Ash Barty in the women's final. We have you covered with a full preview and betting tips for the clash below.
Australian Open Men’s Doubles Final Betting Tips
Kyrgios/Kokkinakis vs Ebden/Purcell, Rod Laver Arena, Saturday 8.45pm
Road to the Final
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis in particular captured the hearts of the Australian public throughout the preliminary rounds with their hyped up antics, taking out some big seeds in exhilarating fashion along the way.
R1 def. Bolt/McCabe 6-4 6-2
R2 def. (1) Mektic/Pavic 7-6 6-3
R3 def. (15) Behar/Escobar 6-4 4-6 6-4
QF def. (6) Puetz/Venus 7-5 3-6 6-3
SF def. (3) Granollers/Zeballos 7-6 6-4
Eden and Purcell were also unseeded coming into the tournament, meaning they too have had to deal with a host of top seeded opponents in their run to the final. They have handled their business with relative ease, dropping just two sets along the way.
R1 def. Erlich/Goransson 7-6 6-3
R2 def. (4) Cabal/Farah 3-6 6-3 7-5
R3 def. (13) Klaasen/McLachlan 7-6 6-3
QF def. (10) Koolhof/Skupski 3-6 6-4 7-6
SF def. (2) Ram/Sailsbury 6-3 7-6
Match Prediction
Crowd favourites Kyrgios and Kokkinakis start as strong $1.44 favourites for the match but I’m a bit wary of them at that price.
Eden and Purcell no doubt have more doubles experience over the course of their career, largely specialising in the format, ranked 34th and 55th in the world in doubles respectively.
Ebden and Purcell have played over 60 doubles tournaments combined while Kyrgios and Kokkinakis have competed in doubles just 12 times, most of them playing with other partners.
Kyrgios’ and Kokkinakis’ serves have been their key weapon throughout the tournament so far, but they have been through rough patches where they let their emotions get the better of them, resulting in them dropping key service games uncharacteristically. They will likely have more support from the crowd, but the crowd won’t be actively against their opponents like they have been in earlier rounds.
Ebden and Purcell have are more refined as doubles players and should be much more consistent throughout the game. They have better touch around the net and shouldn’t make as many mistakes as we’ve come to expect from Kyrgios and Kokkinakis.
I think the bookies have underestimated the pair of Ebden and Purcell a little bit, and the general punting public’s love affair with Kyrgios/Kokkinakis has likely driven their price down even more. I’m not super confident in picking a result, but I do like the overs here in total games here. It has the making of a three set thriller which the crowd will be eating up.
