ATP Adelaide Tips: Americans to overpower Aussies at the 2026 Adelaide International

The 2026 Adelaide International begins on Monday, January 12, and while the men's side lacks the star power of a Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner, there are plenty of interesting players to take a look at ahead of the Australian Open, which begins this Sunday.

Below are my ATP Adelaide Tips for Monday, January 12, with both matches pitting an Aussie against an American.

Set Betting - Sebastian Korda (USA) 2-0 vs Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) @ 4/5

USA's eighth-best ATP-ranked player, Sebastian Korda, began the new season with a straight-sets victory over last year's shock Shanghai Open winner, Valentin Vacherot (7-6, 6-3), at the Brisbane Open.

The 25-year-old overcame Jiri Lehecka (6-3, 1-2) in the next round, aided by the Czech No. 1's retirement, but the American did take the first set.

Compatriot Alex Michelsen (3-6, 6-7) subsequently dealt with Korda in straight sets, but I'm confident he can bounce back in Adelaide on Monday against an opponent who hasn't played a singles match in nearly a year.

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Adelaide-born Thanasi Kokkinakis will be desperate to perform well in front of a home crowd, but the facts are that his last singles contest was a 3-2 defeat to Jack Draper (7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6) on January 15 at the 2025 Australian Open.

The 29-year-old was forced to undergo 'groundbreaking' surgery after suffering from a chronic pectoral injury, and he only made his comeback earlier this month in a 2-1 Brisbane Open doubles victory with Nick Kyrgios over Matthew Ebden and Rajeev Ram (5-7, 6-4, 10-8).

Kokkinakis looked sharp considering his long layoff, but singles is a whole different ball game, and Korda will be confident he can grind the Aussie down on Monday.

Korda secured straight-set wins over Kokkinakis in the first two head-to-heads in 2022, both on hard courts, before the latter was forced to retire in the third set of their Washington Open match in August 2024.

Match Betting - Reilly Opelka (USA) to beat Alexei Popyrin (AUS) @ 1/1

I'm backing another American, Reilly Opelka, to beat another Aussie, Alexei Popyrin, in Adelaide.

Opelka overcame an Aussie, Dane Sweeny, 6-3, 7-5, in his first match of the new season in Brisbane, before losing 7-6, 6-7, 6-7 to Pole Kamil Majchrzak in the second round.

The 28-year-old hasn't dropped serve in two contests so far this calendar year, and in Adelaide on Monday, he will face an opponent, Popyrin, who lost his first match of 2025, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6 to Frenchman Quentin Halys in Brisbane, to extend his losing run to six.

Popyrin's last win was a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 victory over Finn Emil Ruusuvuori, currently ranked 545th, at the US Open on August 26.

The 26-year-old emerged triumphant from his only previous meeting with Opelka, at the Miami Open in March 2021 (6-4, 6-2), but with the American serving lights out so far this year, I'm predicting a seventh consecutive loss for Popyrin.

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