Day 4 of the Australian Opene will feature 16 men’s matches are we are finally fully caught up from Tuesday’s rain. Thursday will see the end of the second round, and as always we will share our thoughts on all the matches. We split the day’s matches between four articles. One features Jenson Brooksby vs Casper Ruud, the second headlines Jeremy Chardy vs Dan Evans, and the third features Andy Murray vs Thanasi Kokkinakis. Predicting this match are Josh Hall, Yesh Ginsburg, and Damian Kust.
Australian Open Day 4 Men’s Predictions
Brandon Holt vs Roberto Bautista Agut
Josh:
I think we could see an upset in this match. Bautista Agut is obviously slowly declining and all the pressure will be on the Spaniard. There is a good feeling around tennis in America at the moment, Holt is playing with freedom, so I’m going to predict a shock here.
Prediction: Holt in 4
Yesh:
Brandon Holt is ready for his breakout run, and against a not-in-great-form Roberto Bautista Agut is a perfect chance to shine.
Prediction: Holt in 4
Damian:
Holt is peaking for the Slams, qualifying and getting great main draw wins, while not making almost any impact on the Challenger Tour at the same time. This is likely where it comes to an end though as he doesn’t have much to hit through Bautista Agut’s extremely solid baseline game.
Prediction: Bautista Agut in 3
Alex de Minaur vs Adrian Mannarino
Josh:
I can see De Minaur being a nightmare in this match for the Frenchman. Mannarino often lacks motivation to put in maximum effort, while De Minaur is one of them players who will chase every ball to the end of the day. If de Minaur wins the first set, this will be a whitewash.
Prediction: de Minaur in 3
Yesh:
Alex de Minaur looks solid, and he gets to face an Adrian Mannarino not at the peak of his abilities. Mannarino beat a rough-looking Isner after the rain break, which doesn’t tell me much about him.
Prediction: de Minaur in 4
Damian:
Mannarino is always a potential banana skin, especially as the new Australian Open balls suit the flat trajectory of his strokes. De Minaur has disappointed in Melbourne a few times in the past, but he should be eyeing a deeper run here and the home crowd support is going to be a nice benefit as well.
Prediction: de Minaur in 5
Denis Kudla vs Ugo Humbert
Josh:
Two players who came through their matches as underdogs. Humbert should be extremely confident following his demolition job of the fatigued Gasquet. I like Humbert to build upon that success and take this quite convincingly.
Prediction: Humbert in 3
Yesh:
Denis Kudla is a lucky Lucky Loser indeed. Kyrgios’ withdrawal gifted him a great draw, and he’ll probably ride it another round.
Prediction: Kudla in 4
Damian:
Kudla took his chance as a lucky loser and gets a somewhat winnable matchup in round two as well. Humbert is going to climb back the rankings this year though and is looking far better than in his very weak first half of the 2022 season.
Prediction: Humbert in 4
Novak Djokovic vs Enzo Couacaud
Josh:
A great occasion for Couacaud to be a part of. However, Djokovic is looking somewhat of an unstoppable force at the moment. I would be surprised if this game last longer than two hours. Expect a dominant display from the Serbian.
Prediction: Djokovic in 3
Yesh:
Djokovic looks in absolutely brutal form so far. I don’t know who can beat him, but I know it’s not Enzo Couacaud.
Prediction: Djokovic in 3
Damian:
Couacaud has qualified for the last three Slams and reaped a nice reward with an extremely favorable round one draw. That’s enough though as he’ll face the main favorite for the title now and probably has even less of a shot at him than Carballes Baena had.
Prediction: Djokovic in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
