The three top 10 men who were pushed to five setters on day 1 face intriguing second round matches, as Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, and Stan Wawrinka do not have the easiest path to the third round. Additionally, a pair of young guns are looking for upsets over seeds in the best matches of day 3 on the men’s side. Our panel of Steen Kirby, Dean Pigott, and Tadeas Gavenda are on hand to offer their previews and predictions for day 3 of the 2017 Australian Open.
(WC)Alex De Minaur vs. (31)Sam Querrey
Steen: Aussie legend Lleyton Hewitt watched on as teenage sensation Alex De Minaur rode home support to a five set victory over Gerald Melzer in round 1, for his first ever Grand Slam win. Both ADM and Melzer were struggling physically at the end of their match, and now the teen has to make a quick turnaround against American veteran Sam Querrey. Querrey struggled early in his round 1 match, but closed it our in four sets for his first win since last Summer. The spotlight around ADM continues to grow, but I think his game lacks the power to upset Querrey, especially with recovery a genuine issue in this case. Querrey in 3 sets
Dean: The young Australian will be hoping to build on a debut win in Melbourne against the 31st seed Sam Querrey. De Minaur won in 5 sets against Gerald Melzer in a match that lasted 3 hours 45 minutes in Round One while Querrey battled from a set down to beat Quentin Halys of France. I don’t this is the easiest match to call, Querrey is very suspectable in long matches especially in the kind of heat you get in Melbourne so you could make a case for De Minaur grinding out another shock win here but if you look at it the other way, Querrey’s powerful forehand could be a bit too much for De Minaur at this stage of his career. Querrey in 4
Tadeas: Alex De Minaur surprised Gerald Melzer in five sets and recorded a great success on his home soil. His recent results are decent as well – victories over players like Kukushkin or Paire are definitely motivating for 17yo prospect. However, it seems that his journey ends in the second round, on the rocket of Sam Querrey. Although he won his first match since Winston-Salem last year, he is 270 ranking positions above his opponent. Considering the difference in match experiences this should be relatively easy victory for Querrey. Querrey in 3
Jeremy Chardy vs. (5)Kei Nishikori
Steen: Nishikori is much better than Chardy usually, but the Frenchman has enough experience under his belt to know what it takes to beat a top 10 player, having done so nine previous times in his career. Nishikori, who leads the h2h 4-2, was miserable at times against Andrey Kuznetsov in round 1, but found a way to win in five sets. Chardy is fresh, and if Kuznetsov’s powerful ball bashing bothered Kei, Chardy’s should too, however the Japanese favorite should find a way to win this match if he can up his first serve %. Nishikori in 4
Dean: Nishikori made hard work of his first round encounter winning in 5 against Andrey Kuznetsov and this could be another test for the world number 5. Chardy has beaten Nishikori in 2 of their 6 meetings although Kei has won the last 3, the most recent being a 6-3 7-5 success in Barcelona last year. Kei hasn’t been serving particularly well so I’m sure Chardy will be fancying his chances of an upset but I have to go with the Japanese player here. He has passed the second round on his last 6 visits to Melbourne. Nishikori in 4
Tadeas: Jeremy Chardy, currently ranked 72nd, did not spend much time on court in the first round, as his opponent, Nicolas Almagro, retired in the first set. Hence, one simply can’t judge the current form of the Frenchman. Although he reached his best Slam result of his career in Australian Open back in 2013, his recent results are not convincing. He spent the end of last season by playing challengers and won only one match in 2 tournaments this season. Although fifth ranked Kei Nishikori survived a big test in the first round, defeating Andrey Kuznetsov in five sets, he is a clear favorite here. He will definitely try to avoid another grueling battle. Nishikori in 3
(4)Stan Wawrinka vs. Steve Johnson
Steen: Just like in the match above, we have a solid top 10 player coming off a five set battle against a feisty underdog with nothing to lose. Wawrinka got exposed against Martin Klizan all throughout their match, but he did find a way to win like the former AO champion he is, and perhaps that will give him a boost for the rest of the tournament. Johnson eased his way into the second round, and his forehand is enough of a weapon to trouble Wawrinka, especially if he takes cheap points on serve. Stan needs to clean up his game, but I don’t think Johnson will win enough at the baseline to take this. Wawrinka in 4
Dean: Wawrinka was another player lucky to escape from his round one encounter with him 3-4* down in the final set of his match against Klizan. He pulled through though and he should get an easier ride this time against Johnson. The American won only 9 games against the current US Open champion in their meeting at the French Open last year and he will find life tough again in this encounter. Johnson has already been brushed aside by Dimitrov and Sock recently. Wawrinka in 3
Tadeas: Steve Johnson advanced to R2 in Australia for the first time in his career by convincing victory over Federico Delbonis. His start of the season was quite decent, as he reached Auckland SF, losing to fellow American Jack Sock. His next opponent is former champion, Stan Wawrinka. They played only one match almost two years ago, when Wawrinka defeated Johnson en route to his Roland Garros title. Stan needed five sets to overcome dangerous Martin Klizan and confirmed this way the fluctuations of his form. Predicting his results is always a tricky business, but he showed in the recent years that he is always a contender in Australia, so one simply can’t vote against him here. Wawrinka in 4
Karen Khachanov vs. (23)Jack Sock
Steen: Just 20, Khachanov eased past veteran Adrian Mannarino in round 1, but now has to face Sock, a player with more firepower than the Frenchman. This young Russian is certainly a player to watch in the coming months, and he’ll challenge Sock. The American looked fresh and confident in round 1 though, he should stretch a five match winning streak to six matches and reach round 3. Sock in 3
Dean: This is a match of big forehands – we have rising star Khachanov against recent Auckland winner Jack Sock. The latter eased through his round one encounter winning in straight sets against doubles specialist Pierre-Hugues Herbert while Khachanov battled through in 4 against French battler Adrian Mannarino. I think this is quite an interesting match up, both players like to hit big and I guess we have to factor in how much Sock has left in the tank after his heroics in New Zealand last week. Conditions will be very hot here and I think the longer the match goes on the more chance Khachanov will have to get the upset but I think Sock is just on a roll at the moment and I think he can keep the momentum going here by taking out the Russian. Sock in 4
Tadeas: This will be the first meeting between the promising Russian and American, who is about to become the stable member of top 20. Sock recently won Auckland title, advanced to the second round in Melbourne easily and his performance makes him the dark horse of this tournament. Despite Khachanov quite surprisingly won a title in Chengdu last season, he still lacks the victories over high-quality opponents and needs some experience to be in contention for good results in bigger tournaments. Sock in 4
Dan Evans vs. (7)Marin Cilic
Steen: Evans had no trouble in round 1 and the Brit has now won five of his last six matches. Evo is without question playing some of the best tennis of his career right now, while Cilic was rusty against Jerzy Janowicz and got pushed to five sets. If Cilic continues to loaf around, Evans could expose his footwork, but if he plays like he did in his last three sets of tennis, the Croatian’s serve will be too much. Cilic in 4
Dean: Evans had a break through tournament in Sydney last week making the final and is up to a career high 51, but I think he has his work cut out in his encounter with Croat Marin Cilic. The 7th seed came from 2-0 down to beat Jerzy Janowicz in Round One, but I think this is a much better match up for him personally. Evans doesn’t really have the weapons to trouble an on song Cilic and you’d have to question just how much the Brit has in the tank. Evans will most likely fade as the match wears on so don’t be surprised if he did get the opening set on the board. Cilic should prevail comfortably enough. Cilic in 4
Tadeas: Really tricky match. According to ranking positions and career achievements, this should be an easy victory for Cilic. However, Cilic’s recent results are not convincing at all. After his poor performance at WTF and grueling loss to Del Potro in Davis Cup he lost in the first round in Chennai to a challenger player Kovalik and needed five sets to advance to the second round through unpredictable Jerzy Janowicz. On the other hand, Evans recorded some good results recently, reaching Sydney finals and winning easily his first round match against Bagnis. Although I am not so bold to predict his victory over Cilic, I expect a close match, where Cilic’s experiences will have the prevailing role. Cilic in 5
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