Tennis

It was anything but smooth sailing for the Australian Open top seed in his 4th Round match against ruse. After waking up feeling ill, the world number 1 cancelled his practice session and at one stage had to leave the court during the match for treatment. He found a way to get through in four sets and now faces local boy Alex De Minaur. The Aussie dispatched Alex Michelsen in straight sets, and despite being very optimistic of his chances leading into this contest, history suggests it will be a great struggle. Sinner leads the H2H 8-0 and has won…

This was the most anticipated potential matchup when the Australian Open draw was released, and we thankfully get it! Djokovic made a slow start to the tournament with Basavareddy and Faria each taking a set off him but has since found his groove with two comfortable wins. In contrast, Alcaraz barely dropped a game in the first two rounds but has since had inconsistent patches in his matches – something that has been occurring far too often. Few players have been able to hit through Djokovic over the last two decades but Alcaraz is one of them. He has defeated…

Sabalenka’s battle against Andreeva went according to the script. She was completely dominant on serve and took advantage of the weak Andreeva second serve. We will know how if this Australian Open match follows suit very early on as Pavlyuchenkova’s ability to hold serve will determine how close this contest is. She holds a 2-1 edge in the H2H but their last meeting was in 2001 – before Sabalenka developed into the player she is now. Nevertheless, Pavlyuchenkova has served great in her last two matches – winning more than 60% of 2nd serve points but she did have 9…

Australian Open top seed Jannik Sinner breezed past Giron as expected but faces a very different opponent today. Rune was forced to dig deep in a five set battle with Kecmanovic and has caused Sinner some troubles in the past. The H2H reads 2-2 with all four of their battles going to a third and deciding set. One of the reasons why Rune has been able to go toe-to-toe with Sinner is his variety. As we have seen in the last 12-18 months, it is very difficult to come out on top if you camp on the baseline and trade…

The dream of Eva Lys is about to come to a very abrupt end. She deserves credit for a career-best result at Grand Slam level, but there is no hiding from the fact that the qualifier is yet to face a player in the top 50. Not only does she finally meet a seeded opponent, but her opponent today is a perennial Grand Slam winner and a player that won 44.6% of return games for the season in 2024. Against players ranked outside the top 100 that number increases significantly! Swiatek picked apart the Raducanu serve as expected and we…

Andreeva’s rise to the top of women’s tennis is imminent and she can accelerate it by beating the world number one here. She stunned Sabalenka at the French Open last year 6-7 6-4 6-4 and managed to win despite dropping serve 6 times and winning less than 50% of 2nd serve points. Clay nullified the advantage of the serve but back on her favourite surface in Brisbane earlier this month, Sabalenka was able to show that there is still a big gap between the two on hard courts. She ran away with the match 6-3 6-2 and did not drop…

Spain’s Davidovich-Fokina is coming off consecutive five set matches which makes this a mountain to climb for him. Thought his compatriot Carballes Baena would trouble Tommy Paul but was well off the mark with that assessment. The American was clinical and has been incredible returning serve. He has broken serve 24 times in three matches and has had great success doing to same against Davidovich-Fokina in the past. Paul leads the H2H 3-0 and has broken the Spaniard’s serve 17 times in the 11 sets they have contested. With only two of those 17 sets producing more than 10 total…

For the second time in as many matches, Raducanu survived being broken 5+ times to win in straight sets. The former US Open champion has run out of her luck as Swiatek will not be letting her off the hook. Swiatek leads the H2H 3-0 with all three wins coming in straight sets. Moreover, in the six sets they have contested, Raducanu has broken serve a grand total of only twice. The Brit is good for one break max in this match but Swiatek could break serve at a rate if 50% of better – especially once the double faults…

Sinner has not lost a match since October (China Open) but it has not been one way traffic in Melbourne so far for the world number one. The first two sets against Jarry in the opening round went to tiebreakers and he was forced to come from a set down against Schoolkate in his previous match. Both of those opponents possessed a critical weapon – a big serve but that is not something Giron has in his arsenal. He may have played nine sets in his two matches, but that does not change the fact that the American has had…

This is not the Novak Djokovic we are used to seeing. The 10-time Australian Open champion has dropped a set in each of his two matches and has leaned on 37 aces to get him out of trouble. He now faces a tougher assignment than his first two as Machac beat him last time they met. It was on clay in Geneva last year with Machac winning the deciding set 6-1. This surface should offer him more free points and we should remember that he has claimed at least one set in his two previous battles with Djokovic. This will…