Australian Open men's singles action continues with a lopsided Monday night affair between third-seeded, Andy Murray of Great Britain taking on the 53rd ranked player in the world, Robin Haase, representing the Netherlands.
Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, will be the site for this first-round match, which is scheduled to get underway tonight at 7 p.m. EST (4 p.m. PST) on ESPN.
According to the latest Australian Open odds, Murray is listed as a 1/50 [-5000] favorite over Haase, who'll come in as a huge 20/1 [+2000] underdog.
After finally getting the proverbial monkey off his back by winning last year's U.S. Open title, the 25-year-old Scot looks to kick off the 2013 campaign with back-to-back grand slam titles.
At first glance, this matchup would appear to be a more of a tune-up, or perhaps even a bye for Murray. However, one look at these guys' head-to-head history suggests that the Dutchman is sure to make "Muzza" sweat in this one.
It not only took Murray five sets to defeat Haas at the 2011 U.S. Open, but the 25-year-old from South Holland holds a victory over the Olympic gold medalist in their only other match (Rotterdam 2008).
Is there a potential upset brewing in the first round of the men's singles at Melbourne this year?
"He likes playing on big courts," said Murray, a two-time Aussie Open runner-up. "He tends to come out firing and going for big shots, playing extremely aggressive. So, I'll need to be prepared for that."
The winner of this match will move on to face either Joao Sousa of Portugal or hometown favorite, John-Patrick Smith in the second round.
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