After the big shock of the reigning champion Novak Djokovic going out to Denis Istomin, there hasn’t been any big upsets in this year’s Australian Open. Is Murray still the favorite to win the whole thing? Can Federer get nr 18 or Nadal nr 15? Let’s have a look round 4, courtesy of the bookmakers at Bet365.
Andy Murray hasn’t been tested in the tournament so far and I can’t see how Mischa Zverev is going to change that.
Andreas Seppi has been fighting for his life successfully in two five-set contests, but Stan Wawrinka has been on top of his game so far. The Swiss can be tested, but not enough.
Daniel Evans is the surprise story of the tournament so far and has played a lof of tennis of late with his final run the Sydney ATP. I think his legs will be too tired to take him the distance against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga however.
Roger Federer played a brilliant match when he beat Tomas Berdych in straight sets and the question is: can he repeat it? He would need to be that good to beat Kei Nishikori. It’s a tough one to predict, but I believe the odds are correct and that Federer will prevail.
Dominic Thiem and David Goffin played a nail-biter in last year’s Roland Garros. Thiem ended up winning and has so far looked great in this year’s Australian Open. I’m a bit curious to why he’s not the favorite here, because I think he’ll win. Potentially a GREAT match no matter what.
Gael Monfils was impressive against Kohlschreiber, while Nadal ground Zverev into cramps and defeat. Nadal hasn’t been spectacular but he still looks very focused and I think he will be too strong for Monfils. But Monfils can surprise us here.
Bautista-Agut played a super solid match against David Ferrer in the previous round, but facing the Canadian cannon Milos Raonic is a different story. I think Spain will have to “blame Canada” after this one.
Those are my quick and dirty thoughts around the fourth round of the Australian Open 2017. What do you think? Please share your thinking in the comments section.
