Analysis for Malisse-Llodra (ATP Australian Open)

Head-to-head record 0:2

Michael Llodra will play Belgian qualifier Xavier Malisse in the opening round at Aussie Open. We´ve already advised on Malisse earlier this year but he was beaten by Ancic in a very tight match. Hopefully, we will have more luck this time. We said that Malisse was considered to be the biggest Belgian talent ever but his career was almost ruined by various injuries. He is an inconsistent player who often had the problems with mental attitude towards the matches however, he is still a player of big potential and he now seems to be in a good form. He was impressive in qualifiers beating R.Ram, Lammer and Dancevic and qualified for the second main event in a row. He is currently playing in a good shape and we think that he is back on the scene. His opponent, Michael Llodra had the career best year in 2008. In singles, Frenchman won two tournaments in the course of two months, the first being in Adelaide, where he defeated Jarkko Nieminen in the final, and the other in Rotterdam, where he edged out Robin Soderling in a third-set tiebreak. He then entered the 2008 French Open, where he upset Tomas Berdych in the second round and went on to reach the fourth round, losing to Latvian Ernests Gulbis in straight sets. However, the end of the year was really disappointing for Llodra. He suffered 3 losses in a row including first round loss to unknown Istomin. On October 20, in the 1st round of the ATP tournament Lyon Grand Prix, Llodra lost 2-0 to fift-seeded Tommy Robredo. Strange odds movements could be seen before and during the game at the betting-exchange Betfair, including over $130,000 matched at low odds on 2-0 to Robredo. Bettors have accused Llodra of match-fixing. In 2009, Llodra hasn’t been so stellar so far and his current results aren´t brilliant. Malisse feels good on the Aussie soil and we think he should be a favourite against Llodra who is definitely not at his best. Odds around 1.8 are worth taking for us.