Australian Open men’s singles round 2: Djokovic, Federer to rally

Seeded stars aplenty left in top half of draw

There were not too many shocks in the men’s singles draw on the first day, with just two seeds going out – ace specialist Ivo Karlovic, who retired hurt, and Frenchman Benoit Paire.

The likes of Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Kei Nishikori and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga all made it through in three or four sets and should have been handed straightforward battles to reach the third round.

Lower-ranked seeds Gilles Simon, Grigor Dimitrov, David Goffin and home hope Nick Kyrgios should all also safely make it through.

But, 19th seed Dominic Thiem (2/5 favourite) may find life difficult against 30-year-old Spanish player Nicolas Almagro (2/1), who is a former top 10 star and also reached the quarters here in 2013.

Others to look out for on day three

Others to look out for include American wildcard Noah Rubin, who shocked Paire in straight sets. The teenager may be ranked way down at number 328, but is one for the future and is 9/4 to beat another Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Elsewhere, there is an all-Argentine clash in the top section between Federico Delbonis (4/11) and Renzo Olivo (9/4), who are both treading on new territory, so expect a hotly contested match that could go all the way. Odds of 5/2 are available for there to be over 4.5 sets.

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Coral’s top tip: Experienced Spanish star Almagro is a great price at 2/1 to beat Austrian Thiem.