By Tony Fairbairn
- Daniil Medvedev [3] v Felix Auger-Aliassime [27]
- Jelena Ostapenko [11] v Victoria Azarenka [18]
- Alexander Zverev [6] v Alex Michelsen
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Daniil Medvedev will look to recover from his late night finish in the previous round when he takes on Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in the second week on day seven of the Australian Open.
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Daniil Medvedev [3] v Felix Auger-Aliassime [27] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Daniil Medvedev [3] v Felix Auger-Aliassime [27] | H2H: Medvedev leads 6-0 |
| Australian Open 2024 | Melbourne, Australia |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $255,000 |
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It was a late night for Daniil Medvedev on Thursday night as he finished his match with Emil Ruusuvuori at four in the morning on Friday. The former finalist had to come from two sets down as he displayed his resilience, mental and physical strength to advance in a tough match. That win will give Medvedev confidence heading into the rest of the tournament as he looks to gradually work his way into the tournament as he searches for a second Grand Slam title in Melbourne.
Next up for Medvedev is Felix Auger-Aliassime who is slowly finding his way back into form after a five set opening round win over former finalist Dominic Thiem. The Canadian had a torrid 2023 season but a title in Basel in October has rejuvenated his form with Auger-Aliassime finding more confidence on his forehand. Now Auger-Aliassime will look for a big win at a Grand Slam as he looks to produce a similar level to the match that saw him test Medvedev in a four hour epic a few years ago in Melbourne.
Medvedev will look for deep returns into the court to test Auger-Aliassime’s baseline game as the third see aims to use his physicality to muscle the Canadian off the court. Meanwhile Auger-Aliassime will look to use angles to force errors from Medvedev’s game as he looks to be aggressive on the forehand. This will be a good test for Medvedev but the third seed should come through as long as he can keep his energy levels consistently high.
Prediction: Medvedev in four sets.
Jelena Ostapenko [11] v Victoria Azarenka [18] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Jelena Ostapenko [11] v Victoria Azarenka [18] | H2H: Azarenka leads 3-0 |
| Australian Open 2024 | Melbourne, Australia |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $255,000 |
| Second on Margaret Court Arena (Not before 03:00 GMT) | Discovery+ Add-on via Amazon Prime
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Jelena Ostapenko was forced to dig deep against Ajla Tomljanovic but the Latvian kept her composure to make it nine consecutive victories. The world number ten knows exactly how to raise her level when it comes to the Grand Slams as her brutal power rarely feels the nerves and pressure of a major tournament. Now Ostapenko will look to translate confidence into deep Grand Slam results as she looks to make the second week in Melbourne for a second year in a row.
Next up for Ostapenko is the only player to beat her in 2024 in the form of Victoria Azarenka. The former champion loves playing in Melbourne with her run to the semi-finals last year proving that she is more than capable of winning another Grand Slam title. Two hard-fought wins over Camila Giorgi and Clara Tauson have proved that Azarenka isn’t just about power as her resilience and competitiveness is up there with the best on the tour. The world number 22 will look to keep those qualities as a place in the last 16 is on the line.
Ostapenko will look to dictate play with her forehand while being consistent on serve. As for Azarenka, she will be aggressive on return as she aims to use her backhand to produce efficient winners. Their match in Brisbane was a match defined by small margins and this is what will happen in Melbourne with Azarenka’s experience helping her through here.
Prediction: Azarenka in three sets.
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Alexander Zverev [6] v Alex Michelsen H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Alexander Zverev [6] v Alex Michelsen | H2H: First Meeting |
| Australian Open 2024 | Melbourne, Australia |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $255,000 |
| Fourth on Rod Laver Arena (09:30 GMT) | Discovery+ Add-on via Amazon Prime
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Small margins define winners and losers with Alexander Zverev gaining first hand experience of that in his second round match against Lukas Klein. The German bounced back from two sets to one down to defeat the Slovakian in five sets as he won the last set tiebreak 10-7. Now Zverev will hope he can use that result to improve his performances as he looks for a place in the second week.
Next for Zverev is 19 year-old rising star Alex Michelsen, who defeated last year’s quarter-finalist and Adelaide champion Jiri Lehecka in four sets. The 19 year-old made his breakthrough by reaching the final in Newport last year and has gone from strength to strength since then by producing consistently good results on the Challenger circuit. Michelsen will hope his big serve can inspire a big result in Melbourne as he has nothing to lose for the rest of the tournament and everything to gain.
Zverev will look to be consistent from the baseline and force errors from Michelsen as he looks to test the American’s stamina. Meanwhile Michelsen will look to use the serve to gain confidence in the match as he looks to finish points off efficiently by approaching the net. Another tough test awaits Zverev but the German’s physicality and experience should prevail here.
Prediction: Zverev in five sets.
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