The second half of the Australian Open commences today and we begin to head towards the pointy end of both the men’s and women’s draw.
World number one and local hope Ash Barty heads to centre court and looks one of the better bets of the day.
Check out the previews and best bets below.
#16 f.fognini v #2 r.nadal
rod laver arena 3:00pm
The 2009 Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal is set to trade blows with lively Italian veteran Fabio Fognini in their fourth round match at Rod Laver Arena.
Nadal, currently ranked world number two, has been in slashing form in his opening three rounds winning all encounters in straight sets.
Meanwhile, Fognini blasted his way through to the second half of the draw with a comprehensive three set victory over Australian hope Alex De Mineur.
Fognini looked in career best form with his 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win over De Mineur but he’s faced with an arduous task to progress to the quarter finals with Nadal making fairly light work of Cameron Norrie in the third round to win 7-5, 6-2, 7-5.
The supposed stiff back Nadal complained about prior to the Australian Open commencing has shown no signs of stopping the Spaniard.
This meeting between Nadal and Fognini is the 17th professional match between the pair, and it’s Nadal who leads the head-to-head 12-4 over Fognini.
The Italian has lately struggled against Nadal despite getting a surprisingly lopsided win on his way to the Monte Carlo title in 2019.
His three other victories over the Spaniard were back in 2015, which included his remarkable comeback in the third round of the US Open proving he can go toe to toe with Nadal on the hardcourt.
Fognini should be able to pinch a set here but Nadal will prove to be too classy.
Suggested Bet: Rafael Nadal to win 3-1 at $3.30
#5 S.TSITSIPAS V #9 M.BERRETTINI
ROD LAVER ARENA 8:15PM
Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and ninth Matteo Berrettini do battle on Rod Laver Arena tonight in what is arguably the most anticipated fourth round clash of the tournament.
Both players are yet to win grand slam titles but it is Tsitsipas who has looked the likely of two to do at Melbourne Park having reached the semi-finals last year only to be spanked by Rafael Nadal.
The pair have only played once before today and it was in this very tournament two years ago.
Tsitsipas won in four sets on that occasion and the pair have come on leaps and bounds since that clash.
Berrettini has fared solidly well in Australia this year.
The Italian strung together a series of ATP Cup wins over Dominic Thiem, Gael Monfils, and Roberto Bautista Agut before succumbing to Daniil Medvedev.
This tournament has been fairly comfortable for him with his only blemish being a dropped set to qualifier Tomas Machac, but his straight-set wins over Kevin Anderson and Karen Khachanov were all very convincing.
With Berrettini looking for his first Australian Open quarterfinals berth and Tsitsipas looking to go one better than last year, this match shapes as one of the best the tournament has thrown up so far.
Expecting this one to go all the way but Tsitsipas just has the class and an Australian Open semi-final finish in the locker that sways us to side with him.
Going with a two-bet strategy here.
Suggested Bet: Stefanos Tstispas to win 3-1 at $3.30
Stefanos Tsitsipas to win 3-2 at $5.25
#1 A.BARTY V S.ROGERS
rod laver arena 7:00PM
Australian Open favourite and local champion Ash Barty welcomes American Shelby Rogers to centre court as Barty looks to march into the quarterfinals of her home grand slam.
Barty will take supreme confidence into this game having yet to drop a set in the tournament as well as a superior record for Rogers in the head to head department.
It will be the third time these two ladies meet in their careers with Barty winning their previous two encounters the most recent win coming in the Yarra Valley Cup quarterfinals.
The 24-year-old prevailed in three sets with a 7-5, 4-6, 10-4 win.
Rogers showed her capacity to trouble Barty in the lead-up tournament and may sense an opportunity with her opponent nursing a sore upper leg.
Rogers form throughout the Open has been rock solid too.
She had a tough third-round opponent in Anett Kontaveit but she managed to come through in straight sets. She was down 4-1 in the first set, but then took complete control of the match to eventually register a 6-4, 6-3 win.
Barty would have learnt a thing or two from the Yarra Valley quarterfinal and given she’s been able to blow the cobwebs out and looked unphased by the sports tape strapped around her upper left leg she should march in the quarterfinals.
Suggested Bet: Ash Barty to win 2-0 at $1.57
