Australian Open 2019 Preview – January 19th, 2019 at 1:30 am
There has been no sign of a scare for Novak Djokovic in his progression through to the third round of the Australian Open 2019. There was never going to be real. Will he get something of a challenge at this stage though as he faces up to Canada’s Denis Shapovalov? The winner will face the winner of the Daniil Medvedev v David Goffin match.
Novak Djokovic v Denis Shapovalov odds*
Novak Djokovic 1/25
Denis Shapovalov 12/1
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 17th, 2019 at 10.36 pm)
[button bookmaker=”bet365″]
The odds are heavily stacked against him but make no mistake, Denis Shapovalov is a confident chap. The Canadian has been talking a good talk ahead of this big showdown with the tournament favourite. Shapovalov opened with a straight 3-0 set victory over Pablo Andujar and then did exactly the same to Taro Daniel in the second round. So there really hasn’t been much put in front of the Canadian.
At just 19 years old this is just the second time that he has been in the main draw of the Australian Open. The first time was last year when he made a second round exit. So he has already done better than that. His best ever return at a Grand Slam was at the 2017 US Open when he got to the fourth round. He is a future star with a lot of very good tools in his arsenal. But realistically, will that be enough to challenge the world number one?
That is a whole different challenge for everyone. Djokovic has been totally untroubled through his short Australian Open 2019 campaign so far and eased past Jo Wilfried Tsonga in the second round. Not too surprisingly Djokovic hasn’t dropped a set in the tournament so far. Given the way that he is moving it is unlikely that he is going to do so in this one and Djokovic is at 4/11 only for a 3-0 victory in set betting* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 17th, 2019 at 10.36 pm). This will be the first-ever meeting between the two players.
Prediction
It should be another victory for the world number one without breaking too much of a sweat. It will be his biggest challenge yet, that having been said. But still, a Djokovic -7.5 games handicap does have appeal at 11/10 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 17th, 2019 at 10.36 pm). It is nothing that looks too unrealistic for the Serbian really at all.
