Can Kohli start another run?

For the 16th time in his career, Philipp Kohlschreiber has qualified for the main draw of the Australian Open. The now 38-year-old athlete has won 22 of his 36 singles matches Down Under, but has never made it past the round of 16. Now the German wants to make another attempt despite his advanced age as an athlete.

The Augsburg-born Marco Cecchinato is facing an opponent who has always been eliminated in the first round in all four appearances in the men’s singles at the Australian Open and thus has a 0% win rate. In the run-up to the opening match between Philipp Kohlschreiber and Marco Cecchinato, the odds are clearly in favour of the German.

However, things have been much quieter in recent years for the Austrian by choice, who has been living in Kitzbühel for some time now. In the whole of 2021, the German played just 16 singles matches, of which he won only seven.

However, the 38-year-old is still an experienced and fit athlete who can show his skills on such big stages at any time. Consequently, we recommend betting on Philipp Kohlschreiber against Marco Cecchinato for the German to win the opening match.

Philipp Kohlschreiber – statistics & current form

Current ranking in the world: 132
Seeded position: unseeded

The 38-year-old German Philipp Kohlschreiber never had the really big career, which was marked by Major titles, centre courts and top-10 rankings. Nevertheless, the consistency with which Kohli has been represented on the biggest stages of the ATP Tour alone is absolutely breathtaking.

In fact, this is the 68th time the Augsburg-born Kohli has competed in a men’s singles Grand Slam tournament, with an impressive 54% win rate at Grand Slams in his career (76 wins vs. 66 losses).

Won 22 singles at the Australian Open

Of course, it has to be said that at 38 he is now one of the oldies on the ATP Tour, which could be particularly noticeable in energy-sapping matches with three winning sets.

Nevertheless, he brings with him the cumulative experience of 15 appearances at the Australian Open, where he can also look back on his best overall record of all four Grand Slam tournaments with a win rate of 61%. In other words: Melbourne Park suits the Austrian by choice extremely well.

Only one first-round exit at the Australian Open in the last five years

Additionally, Kohli has been good with his strength in recent years, playing only select tournaments. However, he finished 2021 outside the top 100 of the ATP world rankings for the first time since the 2003 season.

With an opening victory Down Under, where he has only failed to reach the first round once in the last five years, he would nevertheless quickly return to the top 100. In view of the fact that he has won all his encounters with his Italian opening opponent so far, Philipp Kohlschreiber’s prediction of an opening victory against Marco Cecchinato is also a good one.

Marco Cecchinato – Statistics & current form

Current ranking in the world ranking: 97
Position in the seedings: unseeded

The 29-year-old Italian Marco Cecchinato experienced a small flight of fancy, especially in 2018 and 2019. During this period, the player from Palermo not only achieved all three tournament victories of his career on the ATP Tour, but also stood in the top 20 of the ATP World Ranking for the first time.

In the meantime, however, those successful days are far in the past. He ended a disappointing 2021 season, in which he won just 16 of his 37 singles matches, at 99th in the rankings.

Victory odds of 0% at the Australian Open

The Italian has qualified for the men’s singles at the Australian Open for the fifth time in his career, although his record Down Under could hardly be worse. He failed directly in the first round in all four tournaments.

In fact, the 29-year-old has never won a singles match at a Grand Slam tournament that was not played on his preferred surface, clay. The only matches he has won at Grand Slam tournaments were at the French Open, where he surprisingly reached the semifinals in 2018.

Cecchinato’s game is fully designed for clay court

The fact that Cecchinato will now start the tournament against the aging German as an underdog is also due to the fact that the man from Palermo, who is completely fixated on clay courts, has too many deficits on the other surfaces. These range from a weak serve to a return game that is sometimes too awkward for him to get into on the faster surfaces.

Philipp Kohlschreiber – Marco Cecchinato Direct comparison / H2H balance

Head to head: 2:0

The two athletes have faced each other twice in a singles match so far and in both cases Philipp Kohlschreiber was able to prevail 2-0 without losing a set. Not only did the German win last autumn at the indoor hard court in Metz, but Kohli was able to defeat Marco Cecchinato 2-0 in 2019 in Rome on his element, the clay court. That also underlines the 38-year-old’s status as a favourite.

Philipp Kohlschreiber – Marco Cecchinato Tip

With Philipp Kohlschreiber against Marco Cecchinato, the prediction clearly goes in the direction of the German, who is still good for strong performances despite his advanced tennis age. With the cumulative experience of 67 Grand Slam tournaments played, he should be able to land another win against a player who has rarely been able to prove his competitiveness with the world’s top 100 outside of the clay court in his career.

Accordingly, the bet on the opening victory of the Austrian-by-choice, who could thus already celebrate his 23rd singles win in his 37th match at the Australian Open, is a good one to play.