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Jack Draper v Thanasi Kokkinakis: Australian Open preview

The second round of the Australian Open is up and running and Melbourne gets to witness an intriguing battle as home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis takes on 15th seed Jack Draper on Wednesday.

Draper, who reached the semi-finals of the US Open last season, began his Melbourne campaign with a five-set win over Mariano Navone, while Kokkinakis recovered from a set down to beat Roman Safiullin 3-6 6-3 6-3 7-6.

This will be the fourth meeting between the players with both having picked up a win in the head-to-head last year as Draper prevailed at the Madrid Masters and Kokkinakis edged it in Los Cabos.

Jack Draper v Thanasi Kokkinakis

Jack Draper v Thanasi Kokkinakis betting preview

Draper shows resilience in opener

Coming into this year's Australian Open, British number one Jack Draper made a point of training for the conditions in Melbourne and it was clear to see that had an impact in his opening match.

Having been sick after his first-round win at Melbourne Park last season, Draper tweaked his training to focus on heat preparation to ensure he could go the distance.

And that was certainly the case in his opener against Navone, who Draper beat 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2, leaving it late to sink the Argentinian.

He struck 13 aces in that contest and winning the last two sets so comfortably showed an improvement in his endurance, which could serve him well in his second-round battle.

The clash with Navone produced 45 games and over 40.5 games in this match is currently available at 1.83.

Kokkinakis looking to build on Adelaide run

Draper is favourite at 1.44 to win this second-round matchup and that looks about right given that Kokkinakis has exited at this stage of the Australian Open on five occasions, having never made the third round.

With a home crowd behind him, the 2.75 shot will be hoping he can put the past behind him this year and his first match against Safiullin was at least a little more straightforward, even if it did end with a tiebreak win in the last set.

In terms of preparation for this year's Australian Open, Kokkinakis reached the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International before he had to withdraw due to a thigh problem.

The injury threatens to derail Kokkinakis but Draper is dealing with the same injury and it will be interesting to see how this one plays out between two players clearly not at full fitness.

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Jack Draper v Thanasi Kokkinakis odds

Jack Draper - 1.44
Thanasi Kokkinakis -
2.75

View the full market and more odds for Jack Draper v Thanasi Kokkinakis on site

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.

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