The third round of the Australian Open gets going on Friday and for the first time in the tournament the seeded players are able to face each other, which is a sign of the event cranking up a notch at Melbourne Park.
The tournament really came to life on Thursday with some fantastic matches and based on the schedule for Friday we should be set for many more over the course of the day. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Angelique Kerber and Maria Sharapova are among the stars battling it out on day five of the event.
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Rod Laver Arena
The home star Ashleigh Barty is first up on Rod Laver on Friday when she takes on the fast improving Greek player Maria Sakkari before Roger Federer continues his title defence when he goes up against Taylor Fritz for a place in the last 16. The day session concludes with the other current champion, Caroline Wozniacki, going up against the former winner in Melbourne in the shape of Maria Sharapova.
There is a good looking night session on Laver as well on Friday. Rafael Nadal is first up in it when he will go against the crowd and the Aussie number one Alex de Minaur before the action on the main show court concludes with Angelique Kerber taking on the Australian wildcard Kimberly Birrell.
Margaret Court Arena
Two solid players meet to get the play underway on the Margaret Court Arena when Stefanos Tsitsipas takes on Nikoloz Basilashvili for a place in the fourth round before the emerging star Aryna Sabalenka faces off with the next gen American star Amanda Anisimova before the former US Open champion Sloane Stephens takes on Petra Martic to round off the day session.
Caroline Garcia is up first in the night session when she faces another rising American star in Danielle Collins before a good looking schedule on this court comes to an end when Marin Cilic meets Fernando Verdasco in a contest which could go long into the night if it runs close in any way.
Melbourne Arena
Another good match gets things going on the Melbourne Arena as Tomas Berdych looks to continue his comeback in the game when he takes on the gritty Diego Schwartzman who lays down for no man. Aliaksandra Sasnovich is up second on this court against the Russian player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before Grigor Dimitrov will look to make the second week of the Grand Slam when he takes on Thomas Fabbiano.
There is one match in the night session which comes from the women’s draw as Petra Kvitova goes up against Belinda Bencic in a match which both ladies will be looking to win which should make for a really good contest to finish up the day with.
Best of the Rest
It is mainly doubles for the outside courts on Friday but Karen Khachanov and Roberto Bautista Agut clash out on the 1573 Arena later on in the afternoon and the young American player Frances Tiafoe goes up against the veteran player Andreas Seppi. It is all doubles matches everywhere else on the day.
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Men’s Betting
There is one bet that I like over the course of Friday’s men’s matches with that coming straight away as Tomas Berdych goes up against Diego Schwartzman for a place in the last 16. I’m expecting a close match here. Berdych looks in great nick and there is so much fight in Schwartzman it is untrue so I’m fully expecting this one to go deep and quite possibly into a fifth set. If it does go that far then 36.5 games will be covered easily but even if we don’t quite get there I’m expecting four sets which should see it covered too.
Women’s Betting
There is just the one bet for me in the women’s draw on Friday as well with that coming in the big match on Rod Laver Arena where I expect Maria Sharapova to beat Caroline Wozniacki. Sharapova has looked in awesome form so far in the tournament and I see no reason why that won’t continue. I would imagine Wozniacki will weaken the longer she remains in competitions with her arthritis in situ and Sharapova smacking bombs at her could be a little too much to contain. I’ll take the Russian at odds against.
Daily Accumulator
We finally landed an accumulator on Thursday to go £6.18 up for the competition for them and we’ll have a go at another on Friday but with less games we’re not looking for a huge pay out. Just a nice return will do.
Khachanov win
Cilic win
Sabalenka win
Stephens win
£10 pays £38.65
Tips
WON – Back T.Berdych vs D.Schwartzman – Over 36.5 games for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with LeoVegas
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WON – Back M.Sharapova to beat C.Wozniacki for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with BetVictor
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Back Daily Accumulator at Coral
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