{"id":392872,"date":"2026-01-19T13:34:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T18:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/?p=392872"},"modified":"2026-01-19T13:34:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T18:34:56","slug":"australian-open-first-round-tennis-picks-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/australian-open-first-round-tennis-picks-for-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Open 2026 first-round picks: Best bets on Naomi Osaka and Taylor Fritz"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two big names are the focus of my 2026 Australian Open picks for tennis action on Jan. 19-20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pregame narrative:<\/strong> Naomi Osaka had a career renaissance in 2025, falling just shy of grand-slam glory at the U.S. Open. She’s worth backing as a big favourite in the first round, as is American Taylor Fritz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out my top Australian Open picks, featuring a first-round prediction on the Grigor Dimitrov vs. Tomas Machac match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-> Join NorthStar Bets & bet on the Australian Open<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australian Open picks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Best bet: Fritz -2.5 sets (-112)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike Osaka, Fritz has never won a Grand Slam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the American is consistently among the top challengers to dethrone Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, and has a good chance to go deep in this event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fritz had a huge 2025 season, winning a pair of titles and advancing to the semifinal at Wimbledon. He also downed Alcaraz at the Laver Cup in September, helping the Americans secure the title. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, Fritz posted a 31-12 record on outdoor hard courts, raising his career winning percentage on the surface to 66.9%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think Fritz should smash No. 54-ranked Valentin Royer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-> Check out the first-round Australian Open schedule<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Frenchman made some noise right after graduating from the challenger tour, but has since struggled mightily, losing five straight matches while winning just three sets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key stat:<\/strong> Against players ranked outside of the top 50, Fritz has 13 straight wins on hard courts at Grand Slam events. Eight of those wins came in straight sets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naomi Osaka Aussie Open tennis prediction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Osaka -4.5 games (-138):<\/strong> Osaka went from barely playing from 2020-2023 to playing poorly in 2024 to lighting it up in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four-time Grand Slam winner went 35-16 with a semifinal appearance at the U.S. Open and a finals appearance at the WTA 1000 National Bank Open in Montreal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-> Bet on Osaka in the first round of the Australian Open<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All four of Osaka’s slams came on hard courts, so it’s fair to say this is right in her element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She shouldn’t have a problem beating No. 65-ranked Antonia Ruzic, 6-4, 6-3 or better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Croatian has never advanced past the first round at a major.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dimitrov vs. Machac Australian Open prediction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dimitrov\/Machac over 39.5 games (-118):<\/strong> The last time we saw Dimitrov at a tennis major, he was up two sets against Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon and had the Italian on the ropes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An untimely pectoral injury forced Dimitrov to retire, and he didn’t return until October, when he bested hard-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in straight sets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-> See the latest betting lines for today’s Australian Open matches<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Injuries have always been a problem for the Bulgarian, but a walkover would void this wager if he were to withdraw mid-match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assuming he’s 100%, this should be a spirited matchup between two great players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dimitrov was fantastic on hard courts from 2023-2025, sporting a 47-23 record (67.14%). Machac is fresh off a win at the Adelaide International, marking his second hard-court title in the last two seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These two have played before, and the match went the distance, tipping Machac’s way 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the match were a best-of-five, it would have blown past this number. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australian Open predictions made at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 19, 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

-> Sign up to NorthStar Bets today<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two big names are the focus of my 2026 Australian Open picks for tennis action on Jan. 19-20. The pregame narrative: Naomi Osaka had a career renaissance in 2025, falling just shy of grand-slam glory at the U.S. Open. She’s worth backing as a big favourite in the first round, as is American Taylor Fritz. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":392838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sidebar_plugin_meta_block_field":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[452,71],"tags":[128],"class_list":["post-392872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-com","category-tennis","tag-tennis"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAustralian Open picks 2026 first round: Jan. 19-20 | The Boost<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out our 2026 first-round Australian Open picks. 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