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Taro Daniel, the No.2 Japanese player, will be appearing in his sixth Australian Open after giving his career-best performance last year, when he reached the round of 32 in the first Grand Slam of the year.
Currently ranked 95th in the world, the 29-year-old will take on Ernesto Escobedo, who won the qualifiers to enter the tournament. Ernesto is a Mexican-American professional tennis player, currently ranked 310 in the world. He reached a career-high ranking of 67 in 2017 but failed to make further progress. The biggest feats of his career so far have been defeating Jack Sock in the quarterfinals of Acapulco and Daniil Medvedev in Round 1 of the 2017 Australian Open.
He has also managed to reach Round 2 of a Major tournament twice in his career and has qualified for the ATP 1000 Masters tournaments multiple times. Taro, on the other hand, reached his career-best ranking of 64 in 2017 but has slipped a few places since then. It will be an interesting matchup of two players who are constantly struggling to make it to the main circuit of the tennis world.
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Taro Daniel vs Ernesto Escobedo: Betting Odds
Taro has been on the men's circuit for almost 10 years now. In his career, he has won a total of 12 titles but most of them have been challenger trophies. Expect the ATP 250 Istanbul Open, which he won on clay in 2018, making it a major highlight of his career. He has participated in all four Majors for many years now but ended up losing in the first round on a number of occasions.
Ernesto has been a pro for more than eight years now and still finds himself in the mix of things. It will be a big boost for his career if he manages to win the first round against a better-ranked opponent.
Taro Daniel vs Ernesto Escobedo: Match Details
Fixture: Taro Daniel @ Ernesto Escobedo
Date & Time: Sunday, January 15, 10:15 p.m ET
Venue: Court 12, Melbourne Park
Taro Daniel vs Ernesto Escobedo: Betting Prediction
The two players will be facing each other for the first time. Both are right-handed players and their preferred surface is a hard court.
This makes up for an interesting battle between two players who are looking to make a small mark in the first Grand Slam of the year.
Final Prediction: Taro -155
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