The Australian Open has shot through at a rate of knots so far and on Saturday we see the third round of both singles draws come to an end. We’ve had drama, excitement, brilliance and the ordinary in the tournament so far but come the middle weekend Grand Slams usually catch fire. Saturday has the potential to really catch fire.
After Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Kei Nishikori and Angelique Kerber all cruised through on Friday there will be plenty more big names looking to follow them on Saturday.
Rod Laver Arena
As has been the case all week it is a ladies match which gets us going on Saturday. Dominika Cibulkova takes on Ekaterina Makarova in a powerful match up before the all-American clash between Nicole Gibbs and Serena Williams. Alexander Zverev and Rafael Nadal conclude the day session.
The night session begins with the gutsy Australian Daria Gavrilova taking on Timea Bacsinszky before the attractive looking men’s match between Grigor Dimitrov and Richard Gasquet rounds off the day.
Margaret Court Arena
Barbora Strycova and Caroline Garcia get the action underway on Saturday before Dominic Thiem and Benoit Paire take centre stage. The day session on this court finishes with the potential classic between Caroline Wozniacki and Johanna Konta.
The evening session should have an entertaining beginning as Gael Monfils goes up against Philipp Kohlschreiber before the final match of the day sees Karolina Pliskova taking on Jelena Ostapenko.
Hisense Arena
Doubles is mixed in with singles on the Hisense Arena but the two singles matches on the schedule come in the men’s draw as Ivo Karlovic takes on David Goffin and Gilles Simon goes up against Milos Raonic.
Best of the Rest
Singles matches still go on around the grounds. Denis Istomin beat Novak Djokovic in the previous round but that hasn’t giving him a spot on a main court for his match with Pablo Carreno Busta. Roberto Bautista Agut takes on David Ferrer in the pick of the non-show court matches while Elena Vesnina is another seed on show there.
Betting
I’m going with three bets on Saturday with two in the men’s draw and one in the women’s event. On the men’s side I’m going all-Spanish. Denis Istomin took care of Novak Djokovic in the previous round and while the rest of the field will thank him for that I think his run ends against the improving Pablo Carreno Busta.
Istomin has to manage the inevitable comedown of going from the bright lights of the main court to this outside one and he also has to recover from a 4hr40 marathon against Djokovic neither of which will be easy. PCB is improving his way up the rankings and he is yet to be troubled physically here and I fancy him to have a bit in hand when this one is done.
There could be something of an official changing of the guard on Saturday as the veteran Spaniard David Ferrer takes on the current breed in Roberto Bautista Agut and I firmly expect the younger man to dominate that one. Yes Ferrer will chase down every ball but when push comes to shove the extra power and variety in RBA’s game can lead him to a relatively comfortable win.
Moving to the women’s game and I like Jo Konta against Caroline Wozniacki. Credit to Wozniacki for getting back to this level of the game after her injuries but Konta is going to be a star of 2017 and she is playing so well at the minute. Konta’s extra power on the ground could be a difference here and I fancy her to gun down the energetic Dane.
Tips
Back P.Carreno Busta (-4.5 games) to beat D.Istomin for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Boylesports
Back him here:
WON – Back R.Bautista Agut (-1.5 sets) to beat D.Ferrer for a 4/10 stake at 1.98 with Unibet
Back him here:
WON – Back J.Konta (-2.5 games) to beat C.Wozniacki for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bwin
Back her here:
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