Australian Open 2019 Preview – January 21st, 2019 at 1:30 am
Novak Djokovic, the outright favourite to win the Australian Open 2019 steps back onto the court in the early hours of Monday morning. He will be going into fourth round action against the exciting young Russian Daniil Medvedev who has had a brilliant 2019 so far. But then, he’s up against one of the elite now. Can the underdog pull off something special? The winner will face Kei Nishikori or Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarterfinals.
Novak Djokovic v Daniil Medvedev odds*
Novak Djokovic 1/10
Daniil Medvedev 6/1
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 19th, 2019 at 11:27 pm)
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Djokovic easing through the rounds
Of course, it will be Novak Djokovic who people expect to get through to the quarter-finals from this tie. But it is in an interesting matchup nonetheless. Djokovic hasn’t really had to put himself in top gear at the tournament yet. He took wins in his opening two games of the tournament without dropping a set. He did let one slip in his third round match-up against Denis Shapovalov but then Djokovic closed out the match in style.
Against Canada’s Shapovalov, Djokovic had put the first two sets in the win column but then went down 4-6 in the third. Did he panic? Did he let his focus go? Did he start feeling the pressure? No, he simply went out in the fourth set and posted a 6-0 win to seal the match and move through to the fourth round. Djokovic is looking for his third Grand Slam title on the trot having won Wimbledon and the US Open last year.
Medvedev continues exciting 2019
Standing his way of progress is Daniil Medvedev. The 22-year-old Russian has had a fine run at the tournament and that is just extending some good form that he has shown in his calendar year. He took out some big names on his way to the run to the final of the Brisbane International, getting past Andy Murray, Milos Raonic and Jo Wilfried Tsonga to make the showcase match. He lost it to Kei Nishikori.
So far at the Australian Open, he had powered to three pretty convincing victories. The toughest one of those saw him take on World Number 21 David Goffin in the third round. Medvedev got the win in straight sets, with only the second one of those being tight, the Russian getting it on the tiebreak. The youngster is, without question, a growing force in the men’s game and this is the first time ever that he’s been in the fourth round of a Grand Slam. His previous bets from two Australia Open appearances was a second-round finish last year.
Head to head
Djokovic and Medvedev have once before on the ATP Tour. That happened in 2017 at Estabourn with Djokovic winning in straight sets.
Prediction
Medvedev looks a tremendous dark horse threat and if Djokovic is going to slip up it could easily be against someone like this. But we don’t see Djokovic slipping up though, not at all. He looks in fine fettle. A Novak Djokovic 3-0 correct score in set betting is at 4/6 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 19th, 2019 at 11:27 pm).
