Tennis / Tony Keen / 21 January 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

Tony Keen believes Australian trio will progress to the third round of the Australian Open.

Samantha Stosur (AUS) vs. Kristina Barrois (GER)

World number 13 Samantha Stosur didn't have it all her own way in her first-round win over Chinese qualifier Xinyun Han.

After winning the first set 6-1, Stosur had her serve broken three times by her 192nd ranked opponent to lose the second 3-6 before wresting back control in the third set, securing victory after 91 minutes.

While it wasn't an entirely convincing performance, it was still a win and will give Stosur some confidence after starting the year with three losses from four matches. The 28-year-old will now face Barrois who accounted for Akgul Amanmuradova in straight sets. Stosur is 63 places above her opponent in the rankings so you would expect her to prevail.

Given the Australian's scratchy form, the smart money would be on her to win in three sets.

Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs. Donald Young (USA)

Lleyton Hewitt did as he pleased in his first-round clash with Brazilian Ricardo Hocevar, dropping just six games en-route to a straight sets victory.

A third round match-up with 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis and a fourth-round showdown with world number one Roger Federer are in the offing, but first Hewitt must overcome Donald Young, who bounced back from a disappointing opening set to defeat Belgian Christophe Rochus in four sets.

Hewitt accounted for the American 7-5 6-2 in their only previous meeting on a hard court in Washington last August. Young has the ability to hit a lot of winners, but he is also prone to making a number of unforced errors.

The 20-year-old will undoubtedly put up more of a fight than Hocevar did, but will be no match for Hewitt, who is hitting the ball better than he has for some time.

Put your hard-earned on Hewitt wrapping the match up in straight sets.

Casey Dellacqua (AUS) vs. Karolina Sprem (CRO)

Like Sam Stosur, Casey Dellacqua took three sets to overcome her first-round opponent.

The 6-2 3-6 6-4 victory over Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus would have been a confidence-boosting one for Dellacqua, who was knocked out in the first round of the Brisbane International late last year and the Sydney Medibank International earlier this year.

The West Australian, who had her 2009 season ruined by a serious shoulder injury, now faces Sprem, who upset number 25 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues from Spain, 6-3 6-2.

On her way to earning a wildcard entry into the first grand slam of the year, Dellacqua showed she hasn't lost any of the fighting qualities that helped her progress to the fourth round of the Australian Open back in 2008. She won six consecutive matches and saved three match points against fellow Australian Olivia Rogowska in the final of the Australian Open play-off tournament before eventually prevailing 1-6 7-6 (11-9) 6-3. In the only match played between Dellacqua and Sprem, the honours went to the Australian who prevailed 2-6 7-6 6-2 in Kolkata back in 2006.

Expect Dellacqua to get up in a hard-fought three-set contest thanks to her tenacity and the support of a parochial home crowd.