Australian Open 2019 Preview – January 20th, 2019 at 1:30 am
The fourth round action swings into play in the early hours of Sunday morning in the men’s draw at the Australian Open. Spain’s Roberto Bautista-Agut, a man in form, will showdown against sixth seed Marin Cilic in what looks like a fascinating clash. The winner could well have a troublesome encounter against Roger Federer in the fifth round to come though.
Marin Cilic v Roberto Bautista-Agut odds*
Marin Cilic 8/11
Roberto Bautista-Agut 11/100
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 18th, 2019 at 6:55 pm)
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Spaniard continues form
Bautista-Agut opened his campaign with that epic five-set thriller against Andy Murray. After the Spaniard have gone two sets up, he suddenly saw the Scotsman roar back at him, taking the next two sets off him by tie-breaks. However, it was Bautista-Agut who had the legs in the final set and raced away to seal the match with a 6-2 score in the fifth.
It was another exhausting five-set encounter for Bautista-Agut in the second round when he went up against Australia’s John Millman. The game pretty much followed exactly the same path as it had in Bautista-Agut’s opening game against Murray. The Spaniard won the opening two sets and then had to pull himself back through with a win in the fifth. He had a much easier time in the third round as he took a sixth seed Karen Khachanov, winning in straight sets.
Bautista-Agut went to Melbourne Park as a player in form as he opened the season with a bang in picking up a title in Qatar. It was a highly impressive title as well because along the way he took it Stan Wawrinka and then world number one Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Bautista-Agut got the title by beating Tomas Berdych in the showcase match.
Cilic’s first big test
So that is what Marin Cilic find himself up against in the fourth round of the Australian open 2019. He hasn’t been all plain sailing for the sixth seed either. Cilic took a straight-sets victory in the first round but then saw himself being taken four sets by American MacKenzie McDonald in the second round.
It was a step further with a five-set match in the third round against Spain’s Fernando Verdasco. Cilic had to dig really deep in the game as well, having dropped the first two sets and he only survived in the fourth through an extended tiebreak.
Head to head
The two of them have met five times before with most recent encounter happening in 2017 at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris. Cilic leads the head-to-head 4-1 over the Spaniard. However, the lone win that Bautista-Agut has taken over Cilic happened in their one previous Australian Open meeting back in 2016.
Prediction
Both of these have already had to show plenty of grit to reach the fourth round of the grand slam at Melbourne Park. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see this not end in a straight sets victory for one of them. In terms of a winner, we think that Bautista-Agut is well worth a look at the underdog price of 11/8 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 18th, 2019 at 6:55 pm)
