Brisbane R1 previews and picks: Querrey vs. Tomic, Benneteau vs. Kokkinakis

Bernard Tomic and Thanasi Kokkinakis are among the Australians kicking off their 2015 campaigns in Brisbane on Monday. They will be facing respective first-round showdowns against Sam Querrey and Julien Benneteau.

Bernard Tomic vs. Sam Querrey

Tomic and Querrey will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers when they collide in round one of the Brisbane International on Monday night. Both of their previous encounters have gone Tomic’s way; 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-3 at the 2012 Australian Open and 7-6(6), 7-6(3), 3-6, 2-6, 6-3 one season later at Wimbledon.

Querrey, though, has always been a much better performer at smaller tournaments. Six of the 6’6” American’s seven ATP titles have come at 250s (the other was a 500) and 11 of his 12 finals have also been of the 250-point variety. Last September and October he vultured three straight Challenger events and won all of them. Tomic, a 2012 Brisbane semifinalist, went 3-4 in ATP main draws last fall while also failing to advance out of Paris qualifying. Ranked 21 spots below Querrey at 56th in the world, the 22-year-old Australian is always a proverbial wild card when he takes the court–especially for a first match of the season.

Pick: Querrey in 3

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(8) Julien Benneteau vs. (WC) Thanasi Kokkinakis

Benneteau is still looking for his first-ever ATP title as he heads into 2015 at 33 years old. Nine of his 10 finals have come at the 250-point level, but he has never come close to achieving any success in Brisbane. The 25th-ranked Frenchman is 2-7 lifetime at the event with five first-round losses and two second-round exits. Benneteau is coming off a decent fall swing that included a runner-up showing in Kuala Lumpur and a quarterfinal run at the Shanghai Masters.

Before this week’s No. 8 seed can think about navigating a field that also features Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori, among plenty of other stars, he will have to get past Kokkinakis on Monday. Benneteau had no trouble doing just that in their only previous meeting, which resulted in a 6-4, 6-1 romp in a dead Davis Cup rubber one season ago on the clay courts of France. Kokkinakis is 2-7 for his career at the ATP level. The 18-year-old Australian successfully qualified for the Brisbane main draw in 2014 before dropping his opener to eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt. Kokkinakis should feel comfortable at home, but Benneteau’s rock-solid play from the back of the court and overall veteran guile will likely be too much for the youngster.

Pick: Benneteau in 3

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