Australian Open 2019 Preview – January 20th, 2019 at 1:30 am
It has all been very comfortable for Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open 2019. In fact, he made a pretty big statement in taking out home talent Alex De Minaur in straight sets in their third-round matchup. Next up for Nadal in the bottom half of the draw is Thomas Berdych. The winner of this one will likely be up against Grigor Dimitrov in the next round.
Rafael Nadal v Tomas Berdych odds*
Rafael Nadal 1/7
Tomas Berdych 9/2
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 18th, 2019 at 6:55 pm)
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No worries for Nadal
After sparking some concerns over his fitness following a withdrawal from the Brisbane tournament, Rafael Nadal has came out firing at Melbourne Park. He has yet to drop a set on his way to this fourth round clash. He faced a tricky challenge in the form of Australia’s Alex De Minaur in the last round, a player who was bang in form.
But Nadal came through the challenge totally unchallenged and unopposed really, dropping only the seven games as he powered his way to the fourth round. So it has been a comfortable ride for him, well at least Nadal has made things look pretty easy and comfortable. This game against Berdych has the potential of being a bit more challenging for him but still, it is a game that many will be expecting Nadal to win.
Berdych back after injury
Berdych cruised through his first two matches at the Australian open 2019. He had recovered from having dropped the first set in his third-round match against Denis Schwartzman. That turned out to be a pretty tight and competitive match but the Czech star stuck in there well to produce the victory. Interestingly Berdych has reached the fourth round at the Australian open 11 times before. He has actually won more matches at the tournament and Pete Sampras ever did despite Sampras collecting to Australian open titles.
Berdych has never won a grand slam, the closest he came was back at 2010 Wimbledon. So it has been a good return for Berdych, who spent most of the 2018 on the sidelines because of an injury. So this becomes big task now for him against a player who he has had very little success against in the past. That having been said though it was Berdych won the last Australian Open meeting with Nadal.
Head to Head
Rafael Nadal holds a 19-4 head-to-head lead over Berdych from all of their previous meetings. Two of their meetings have been at the Australian Open With Nadal winning the first one back in 2012 in the quarterfinals before Berdych got revenge when they last met at Melbourne Park in 2015. But those wins for Berdych over Nadal have been so few and far between.
Prediction
You have to bear in mind that Berdych took six months out of action to repair his back and so he has done pretty well just to make it to the fourth round to set up this clash with Nadal. Is he likely to go any further? Is he likely to pull off a big upset? Not that we can see and because of how while Nadal looks to be moving on the court, we have to support the Nadal 3-0 correct score in set betting 4/5 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 18th, 2019 at 6:55 pm).
