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2019 Brisbane International Men's singles, first round Show Court 1, Queensland Tennis Centre Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga |
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Thanasi Kokkinakis and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga meet in first-round action at the Brisbane International. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from around 5pm (AEDT).
Seeking a spot in the Round of 16, both these players will be looking for a far better start to the year than the one just passed.
Kokkinakis sits at 152 in the world rankings after an injury and disrupted year that saw him make little progress.
Tsonga, now 33, has also slipped dramatically, coming in at 258 in current world standings.
That position belies his talent, even as the twilight of his career approaches, and the former Australian Open finalist still has the game to comfortably compete with top thirty players.
It will be a long haul to climb back into the top fifty after April’s knee surgery and Brisbane could prove a good launching pad for the Frenchman as he looks to start that journey.
The young Australian had something of a similar year after cracking a kneecap in Monte Carlo earlier in the season.
Later in the year he showed some good form in Challenger events and comes into the Australian summer with reason for optimism.
Kokkinakis did well to get through qualifying for this event and those matches will have prepared him well for this clash.
This will be an interesting match that will tell us a lot about the current state of both these men’s games. It should be an interesting battle.
Prediction
The Australian appears to have a little more solid tennis under his belt coming into what is always a hectic month on the Australian tennis calendar.
Tsonga might be returning to something near his best form when able to string 5-6 matches together. Therefore, it appears likely that Kokkinakis might prevail in this one in two tight sets.
Where: Queensland Tennis Centre, Brisbane, Australia
When: Tuesday 1st January 2019, 5pm (AEDT)
TV: Nine Network and Nine Now
Betting: Thanasi Kokkinakis $1.73, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga $2.11
Catch all the action on The Roar with our live coverage from 5pm (AEDT).
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