The quarter finals of the Australian Open get underway out in Melbourne on Tuesday when the top half of the two singles draws play down to the semi-finals on a wonderful looking day of tennis in the opening Grand Slam of the year.
There are Grand Slam winners and finalists everywhere you look on Tuesday and with the remainder of the singles draws now taking place on the Rod Laver Arena there is a feeling that the tournament will go up a notch here.
Day Session
Barbora Krejcikova vs Madison Keys
The opening match of the day comes from the women’s draw where the French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova takes on the Adelaide champion in the lead up to the tournament in the form of Madison Keys.
This is one of those classic duels between a wonderful defender in the Czech ace and the powerful offensive game of Keys and it will be interesting to see which way this one plays out. Both women had good wins in the previous round. Krejcikova saw off Victoria Azarenka while Keys beat Paula Badosa with both ladies dropping just four games in those victories. This will be the first time these two have met and while Keys looks to be hitting the ball lovely right now, Krejcikova hasn’t won a Grand Slam and risen to four in the world without taking the power from opponents and working it herself. I think her all-round game might be the better of the two and if Keys assists the Czech further with some unforced errors when going for too much it might make life a little more comfortable. I think the variety the Czech has can land us a punt at 4/5.
Denis Shapovalov vs Rafael Nadal
The day session in Melbourne rounds out with a right good looking clash between the Canadian star Denis Shapovalov and the tennis legend Rafael Nadal with a spot in the semi-final a very deserved reward for the winner.
These two men have both reached the last four of a Grand Slam before so that should ensure there are no nerves, especially from the less experienced Shapovalov so this should be all about the best player on the day winning, unless the Canadian is overawed by the man he faces. He has beaten Nadal in a big hard court match outdoors though and although that was on home turf he isn’t the sort of player who lacks confidence. Nadal has cruised through to this stage of the tournament but he goes up in class of opponent here so we’ll find out just how close to winning one of these things again he actually is. I’m not convinced he is near that level but we’ll know for sure after this. I don’t see this match being won in straight sets so I like this one to contain more than 37.5 games.
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Night Session
Ash Barty vs Jessica Pegula
The night session gets underway with the world number one and tournament favourite in the women’s draw Ash Barty in action. She looks to make the semi-final of her home event for the second time when she meets Jessica Pegula.
Pegula will be looking for a place in her first semi-final at this level so this has the potential to be the biggest night of her career but I don’t expect her to have much joy in it. I think Barty is the player to beat right now and while the American might have periods of joy with her clean hitting, it would need an extraordinary effort to keep the class and variety of Barty at bay throughout the whole evening. I’m happy to respect Pegula enough to not oppose her on any handicaps though but really this looks like a facile Barty win on paper.
Gael Monfils vs Matteo Berrettini
The last match of a good looking day of action in Melbourne sees the incredibly entertaining and in form French star Gael Monfils taking on a Matteo Berrettini who has really looked like he means business so far in this tournament.
I suspect the focus of Berrettini was concentrated once the withdrawal of Novak Djokovic came about and to be fair to the Italian he has taken full advantage so far. He has overcome a couple of tough challenges in the form of Carlos Alcaraz and Pablo Carreno Busta so far and now he faces another in Monfils, who already has a title to his name this year and who has absolutely breezed through the draw to this stage. It has to be said that Monfils hasn’t played anything of any note so far but he has thrashed everything that has been in front of him and if he is at his best and has no fitness issues he is entitled to be a match for the big hitting Italian. In my eyes this is one to watch rather than bet on.
Tips
Back B.Krejcikova to beat M.Keys for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
Back her here:
WON – Back D.Shapovalov vs R.Nadal – Over 37.5 games for a 1.83 with BetVictor
Back it here:
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