After a thrilling first week of Australian Open tennis, the action heats up in the quarterfinals for both the women’s and men’s fixtures.
Elena Rybakina vs. Jelena Ostapenko
Rod Laver Arena (Day)
Elena Rybakina enters her quarterfinal with Jelena Ostapenko at $1.42 favourite with the punters following her straight sets victory over World No. 1, Iga Swiatek, on Sunday.
The reigning Wimbledon champion was clinical during her 6-4, 6-4 triumph, winning 80% of her first serves and driving home 24 winners to 15.
However, she’ll be facing an in-form Ostapenko after the Latvian star took down the highly fancied Coco Gauff 7-5, 6-3.
Ostapenko is no stranger to the second week of a Grand Slam, having won the French Open in 2017 against Simona Halep and going as far as the semis at Wimbledon the following year.
Rybakina is playing with as much intensity, if not more, than her successful Wimbledon campaign last year and looks like value to bring home the title.
Suggested Bet: E. Rybakina to win at $1.37
Karen Khachanov vs. Sebastian Korda
Rod Laver Arena (Day)
No player has been crunched in the market as much as Sebastian Korda after he took out the 7th and 10th seeds in consecutive rounds.
Currently, behind just Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas, Korda has captured the hearts of Australian fans with victories over Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz.
Khachanov may yet prove Korda’s most formidable opponent as he’ll be entering his quarterfinal on the back of a 6-0, 6-0, 7-6 demolition of World No. 33 Yoshihito Nishioka. Khachanov dominated every statistical category, winning 93% of first serves and sending down 15 aces to 1.
This promises to be one of the most scintillating matchups of the tournament, with Korda to continue his sensational run.
Suggested Bet: S. Korda to advance in 3 or 4 sets
Jessica Pegula vs. Victoria Azarenka
Rod Laver Arena (Night)
Is Victoria Azarenka the story of the Australian Open so far? 10 years after winning her second and most recent Australian Open title, the Belarusian star is back in the second week of her most successful Grand Slam.
It took her 2 hours and 40 minutes to overcome Lin Zhu in three sets on Sunday, just two days after her upset victory over Madison Keys.
This will be her most challenging task to date, with Pegula currently the second favourite to win the tournament.
Pegula is yet to drop a set from her four matches and cruised past Barbora Krejcikova 7-5, 6-2 in the 4th round. She’s $1.34 against Azarenka and is in a solid position to progress to her first-ever semi-final.
Suggested Bet: J. Pegula to win 2-0 at $1.90
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Jiri Lehecka
Rod Laver Arena (Night)
There’s no player with more market support than Tsitsipas heading into the quarterfinals, with the Greek Freak $1.13 with BetDeluxe.
The fan-favourite had to pull out all the stops in his 4th round clash with Jannick Sinner, taking four hours to defeat the Italian in five incredible sets.
Tsitsipas was ice cold on break points, making 45% of his while saving 22 of Sinner’s 26 break point opportunities.
The 21-year-old Lehecka is on the ride of his short career at this year’s Australian Open.
Ranked 71st in the world, Lehecka had never made it past the 1st round since entering Grand Slams at the start of 2022. He produced the best win of his career in the 4th round, defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 7-6.
While we can expect to see more of Lehecka in the future, Tsitsipas should find his way through to the semis.
Suggested Bet: S. Tsitsipas to win 3-0 at $1.95
