Only a miracle will help Fritz in the match with Djokovic
Serbian Novak Djokovic and American Taylor Fritz will face each other in the first quarter-final of the tournament in Melbourne. There is perhaps the least amount of intrigue in this pair.
It’s hard to imagine Novak missing a chance to reach the semifinals. The Serbian is now in perfect health, actively joking about his longevity and, above all, proving his worth on the field.
And if Djokovic still gave a set to Niko Prizmic and Alexey Popyrin in the first matches, then he hit his stride. Adrian Mannarino experienced the full power of Novak, losing two sets to zero.
Overall, Fritz has already proven himself at the Grand Slam tournament. He managed to “scalp” the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. But it is clear that appetite comes with eating. At the same time, remember that Taylor has never beaten Djokovic. They have already met eight times. And only once did Fritz manage to force the fight: in 2021, at the Australian Open, he lost in five sets. In other cases, the American did not take a single match.
Bookmaker odds: Novak Djokovic – Taylor Fritz – 1.11 – 7.60. Start – January 23, 6:30 Moscow time.
Rublev will attempt to reach the TBS semi-finals for the 10th time
On January 23 at 12:30 Moscow time, Italian Jannik Sinner and Russian Andrei Rublev will meet. This is perhaps one of the most interesting and competitive quarterfinals of the tournament. Let’s start with the fact that the world ranking neighbors meet. Sinner occupies the 4th position and Rublev – the 5th.
Yes, Yannick is doing really well now. The Italian had excellent dynamics last season, which Daniil Medvedev himself could feel at the ATP Finals tournament. But we cannot say that Sinner is invincible. So far, Yannick has not won any Grand Slam tournaments, and his best result is reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2023.
In a tough Grand Slam tournament, Sinner never made it past the quarterfinal stage. And in this he resembles Rublev. Andrey has already had nine attempts to reach the semi-finals of a major tournament. But so far it has not worked: since 2017, Rublev has been unsuccessfully trying to overcome this enchanted barrier. Additionally, attempts have taken place on all surfaces: at the Australian Open, US Open, Wimbledon and Roland Garros.
The main thing is that Andrey no longer develops any complexes. When you lose so much in the quarterfinals, your knees can start to shake.
Rublev has already played two five-set matches in Australia. He had to achieve victory in matches against Brazilian Thiago Wilde in the 1st round and Australian Alex de Minaur in the 4th round. But the Russian very confidently defeated the Americans Christopher Eubanks and Sebastian Korda in three sets.
As for Sinner, he was very good at the Australian Open this season. The Italian has not given up a single set in four matches. However, let’s immediately make a reservation that he did not have any truly leading opponents. It was only in the fourth round that he met the 15th racket in the world, Karen Khachanov. In general, Rublev’s network was more complex, that much is obvious.
Rublev and Sinner met six times. The advantage is on the Italian side – 4:2. And what is unpleasant is that Yannick won the last two matches, and did not give the Russian a single set. Both of Rublev’s victories were the result of Sinner being eliminated during the match.
Bookmakers consider Yannick the clear favorite. But we hope that the match will be very competitive. Athletistic will broadcast live the match between Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner.
Bookmaker odds: Jannik Sinner – Andrei Rublev – 1.24 – 4.50. Start – January 23, 12:30 Moscow time.
Anton Mozgovoy, Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
