We are already approaching the second week of the season’s first Grand Slam, as spots in the fourth round of the Australian Open will start to be handed out on Friday. Novak Djokovic is continuing his campaign against Tomas Machac, while Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka, and Coco Gauff are also among those taking the court.
Here are my previews and picks for two of Friday’s best matchups.
(7) Novak Djokovic vs. (26) Tomas Machac
Djokovic and Machac are facing each other for the third time in their careers. Their previous matches have been very encouraging for Machac, who lost in a third-set tiebreaker at the ATP 500 in Dubai two years ago before prevailing 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 last spring on the red clay of Geneva.
Those results are all well and good for the Czech, but running into Djokovic at a slam is an entirely different kind of situation. After all, the 37-year-old Serb has won a record 24 of these things–including 10 at Melbourne Park. Djokovic was not at his absolute best against either Nishesh Basavareddy or Jaime Faria in the first two rounds, but he usually picks up the pace once the competition level heats up at majors. It also doesn’t help Machac that he is coming off a five-set struggle with Reilly Opelka in round two.
Pick: Djokovic in 4
Jakub Mensik vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Mensik is one of three teenagers who have ousted a top-10 opponent at this Aussie Open (also Joao Fonseca against Andrey Rublev and Learner Tien against Daniil Medvedev). That’s the first time this has happened since the 1990 French Open. Mensik’s victory came over world No. 6 Casper Ruud on Wednesday, which was preceded by four-set win over Nikoloz Basilashvili in the opening round.
The 19-year-old Czech has split his two previous meetings with Davidovich Fokina, altho his “loss” went to 9-7 in the first-set tiebreaker and was followed by a retirement. Mensik previously defeated the Spaniard 7-6(3), 6-4 a week earlier in Doha. Davidovich Fokina has struggled since last summer and played the longest match of the tournament–four hours and 51 minutes–against Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday. That’s not a great recipe for success moving forward.
Pick: Mensik in 4
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.
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