Nikoloz Basilashvili vs Andy Murray Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Australian Open

Prediction published on 17/01/2022, 11:22  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 17/01/2022 at 13:09 in Tennis Predictions

Andy Murray takes on the 21st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round of the Australian Open. It's a match Murray wouldn't have imagined playing after his emotional press conference here three years ago. Retirement looked inevitable but the British number three has fought back after hip surgery. He's up to 113 in the rankings and last weekend lost to Aslan Karatsev in the final of the Sydney International. He now faces an opponent who he has twice beaten in the past year. Murray beat Basilashvili at Wimbledon last year and in Sydney this year. He's never won this title but has reached four finals, the last being in 2016. If playing five matches last week hasn't had a negative response, then he has a good chance of reaching the second round where he'd face either Taro Daniel or Tomas Barrios Vera, both of whom had to qualify for this event.

Nikoloz Basilashvili is the world number 23, a rise of 16 places since this time last year. He won titles in Doha and Munich last year but his best Grand Slam performance was reaching the third round of the US Open. His best ever result in a Grand Slam was a fourth round in New York four years ago. Basilashvili also reached the final at Indian Wells last year but was rather inconsistent in the final six months of the year. 2022 hasn't started well and he's yet to win a match this year. The ATP Cup saw him lose to Diego Schwartzmann, winning just three games. He then took on Stefanos Tsitsipas and was 4-1 down in the first set when retiring injured. A loss in three sets to Murray followed in Sydney last week. Murray's confidence will have been greatly boosted by that run to the final in Sydney. Back him to get the win here.