The remaining quarter finals of the Australian Open will be played out on the Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday and when the lights are turned off at the end of it we will know the line up in the semi-finals of both singles draws.
The tournament has been sprinkled with shocks and surprises but in and around it there has been some amazing tennis and we await to see what Wednesday’s juicy looking schedule has to offer in that regard.
Get double winnings on your Australian Open bet (as a free bet) if your player loses the first set but wins the match at Boylesports! All customers! Click the image above to bet. 18+ T&Cs apply.
Day Session
Naomi Osaka vs Elina Svitolina
The US Open champion Naomi Osaka takes on Elina Svitolina in the first of the women’s quarter finals on Wednesday with a spot in another Grand Slam semi-final the potential reward for the winner of the match.
Osaka has been made to work in this tournament, having to come from a set down to see off both Su-Wei Hsieh and Anastasija Sevastova in the previous two rounds but she will fancy her chances of overpowering the Ukraine star. Svitolina hasn’t had the easiest route to this quarter final either. She had to come from the clouds in the third round but did so to negotiate her path into this match.
I’m a big fan of Osaka and I think she wins this. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised if she needs three sets given the quality of her opponent and the way her tournament has panned out thus far. I’m already on her to win the tournament though and her price for this match is probably just right rather than anything special so I’m happy to let that ride for now.
Serena Williams vs Karolina Pliskova
The afternoon action continues with the great Serena Williams looking to make it into another major semi-final when she goes up against the former US Open finalist and form horse Karolina Pliskova in a tasty looking encounter.
If there were doubts over Serena heading into this tournament she well and truly answered those in the last 16 when she went toe-to-toe with Simona Halep in a superb match. Serena eventually came through in a brilliant third set so she’s not making up the numbers here. Karolina Pliskova’s win over Garbine Muguruza at the same time might have gone largely unnoticed because it was on the Margaret Court Arena, but it was as brilliant and as ruthless a win as I’ve seen from her for quite some time.
Pliskova has a win over Serena on a hard court and not just any hard court either, she beat her at the US Open in New York, which is not an easy thing to do, and the way she has hit the ball in the last couple of rounds I think the Czech can challenge Serena at the very least, if not actually beat her. I’d still favour Serena in this match but Pliskova has enough power on her side of the court to remain within 4.5 games here.
Milos Raonic vs Lucas Pouille
The afternoon match in the men’s draw sees the former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic looking to continue his wonderful run in the tournament when he faces the French player Lucas Pouille, who is hoping to make it into a first Grand Slam semi-final.
The attention has been centring around the likes of Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Rafael Nadal in Melbourne in the main, but there is a genuine claim that can be made to suggest that Raonic has been the player of the tournament thus far. He has barely been troubled in the event to date and absolutely tore Alexander Zverev apart in the last round. Pouille has battled hard in his typical style in this tournament and having fought so strongly to make it to this stage you sense he won’t give this one up without another huge battle.
These two have met on three occasions in the past and Pouille hasn’t won a set yet. I’m not wholly convinced that he wins one here either in truth but I respect his play enough this week to avoid betting on it, especially as the prices aren’t really a lot to write home about.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Night Session
Novak Djokovic vs Kei Nishikori
The final match of what looks like being a brilliant day of tennis concludes with the pick of the men’s quarter finals when the world number one Novak Djokovic continues his quest for a seventh Australian Open title when he goes up against the marathon man Kei Nishikori.
I guess this match will largely revolve around how much is left in the tank of the Japanese star. He has gone the distance in three of the first four rounds and not only did he go five sets with Pablo Carreno Busta on Monday but he went over five hours in a brutal match. Djokovic has been taken to four sets in his last two matches but he still hasn’t been hugely strained in that time and will surely be much the fresher of the two men here.
The game line for this match is 34.5 which I’m a little surprised at. I’m on Nishikori to win the quarter at a solid price but I’ve given that up in truth given his exertions in the tournament so far. Those exertions are likely to mean that much like the US Open semi-final in the same circumstances, the Japanese star doesn’t win a set. There is enough mileage in that game line for him to win one and still the under comes in though. If Nishikori is feeling it and goes a break down early on he could sack a set off so we could have a 6-0 or 6-1 sort of set which would still give us plenty of room to move to keep under 34.5 games. I’ll play that under.
Tips
WON – Back K.Pliskova (+4.5 games) to beat S.Williams for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
Back her here:
VOID – Back N.Djokovic vs K.Nishikori – Under 34.5 games for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Betway
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
