Stefanos Tsitsipas and Tomas Machac will face off in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday, and we’re up for some more Australian Open betting. Basically, it a former finalist looking to regain his elite form against one of the hottest players on the tour right now. Not easy to predict but surely one of the best matches of the second round in Melbourne.
Tsitsipas vs Machac
Tomas Machac enters the match with significant momentum. The 25-year-old Czech is fresh off a title run at the Adelaide International last week and looked impressive in his opening round in Melbourne, dismissing veteran Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. Machac has won six consecutive matches and is currently at a career-high ranking of world number 24. His stable but aggressive baseline game as well as confidence in high-pressure moments make him a really difficult opponent for anyone in the draw. More on Machac’s racquet.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, now ranked number 35, is working to move past a difficult 2025 season. He showed resilience in his first-round match against Shintaro Mochizuki, recovering from a set down to win in four. His game was far from perfect and he did look annoyed at times, but his serves were great and in the end it was a deserving win. While he has historically performed well in Melbourne, reaching the final in 2023 and multiple semifinals, he has struggled for consistency in recent Grand Slams. For Tsitsipas, this match feels like an opportunity to prove he can still compete with the tour’s in-form players.
H2H
The head-to-head history is limited to one previous meeting in 2023, which Tsitsipas won in a close three-set battle in Vienna.
Predictions and Odds
With Machac playing the best tennis of his career and The Greek still searching for his top level, this second-round encounter is expected to be much tighter than the first meeting. Bookmakers are holding Machac as quite a clear favorite (odds 1.54 or -187.5) and it’s hard to bet against him at the moment.
I expect Tsitsipas to make this a real fight and that we will see glimpses of his really high level, but in the end Machac will proceed to the next round with his current form.
My Prediction: Machac to win in 4 sets and we will see at least one tie-break.
