Australian Open 2019 Preview – January 21st, 2019 at 1:30 am
Going into the tournament, young German Alexander Zverev, currently ranked 4th in the world, was seen as being the one most likely to get the title if it weren’t for the other big three of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer in the field. Now in order to get to the second week of action, Zverev has to come through a huge challenge of facing Raonic. The winner faces Borna Coric or Lucas Pouille in the quarterfinals.
Alexander Zverev v Milos Raonic odds*
Alexander Zverev 4/5
Milos Raonic evens
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 19th, 2019 at 11:27 pm)
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Zverev still on track
Zverev opened his tournament with a routine win over Aljaz Bedene but then in the second round, he found himself being challenged by Jeremy Chardy. Zverev had taken the opening two sets in the match but then was pegged peg, needing a decider. Zverev recovered himself well, to his credit to post a 6-1 score in the final set to put the match to bet. Normal service has resumed when he beat Alex Bolt in the third round in straight sets.
Zverev is still on the hunt for his first Grand Slam title but is only 21 years old as has plenty of time. Frankly, it is likely to happen at some point. In his last two attempts at the Australian Open Zverev has fallen at this third round stage. Will he suffer the same fate this time around or will he be able to break through that wall? It’s no easy game awaiting him.
Raonic roaring in tough challenges
Raonic has had a tough run so far in comparison to that of Zverev. The Canadian faced an uncomfortable rid point the opening round as he went up against home favourite Nick Kyrgios. So the crowd was against Raonic there, but his service game was on point as he fought through to a three-set victory. Then it was up against former Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka in the second round and Raonic had to fight back from having dropped the first set.
Raonic won the following three sets, each on a tie break in an exhausting battle between the two. It was a little easier for him in the third round as he looked fresh in taking a three-set win over Pierre Hebert. He needed that did Raonic as he sets himself up now for another big challenge. To be fair, he has handled himself really well in some high-pressure situations.
Head to head
There have been just the two previous meetings between the two players and they were both in 2017. Zverev won the first meeting at the ATP World Tour Masters 100 Rome, but then Raonic got his revenge not the round of sixteen at Wimbledon. That was a five-set thriller of a match, Zverev running out of steam in the decider.
Prediction
This has every chance of going the distance. You have two very good players here who are going to chase down every ball. If Raonic gets that massive serve working as well as he did in the first round and at pressure times against Wawrinka, he is going to be a big threat in this game. But Zverev does look the more mobile and of the two.
It’s going to be tight, but we like what we have seen from Raonic in some tough tests so far. That could serve him well here. Raonic to win at evens* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 19th, 2019 at 11:27 pm). Basically this is expected to be so tight that there are value options in the match outright.
