The second round of the 2020 Australian Open gets underway with Hubert Hurkacz facing home favorite John Millman, and Novak Djokovic vs Tatsuma Ito on the schedule. Andrew Watson and Yesh Ginsburg offer their predictions.
Novak Djokovic vs Tatsuma Ito
Andrew: Djokovic looked extremely relaxed in his opening encounter with Jan-Lennard Struff. However, the Serb couldn’t have been happy dropping the third set. It was the first time he had dropped a set in an opening Australian Open match since 2006. All the more reason for the defending champion to dominate this match-up and come through in straight sets. Djokovic in 3
Yesh: Ito reached the second round of a Major, but he’s not getting any further. Djokovic will cruise. Djokovic in 3
Marton Fucsovics vs Jannik Sinner
Andrew: Both men were impressive in their first round match-ups. Fucsovics took advantage of an error-strewn Denis Shapovalov and deserves his place in the second round. However, Sinner should be able to use his power off both wings to unsettle the Hungarian. Take the young Italian to progress here. Sinner in 4
Yesh: Fucsovics pulled off an impressive upset over Denis Shapovalov, but Sinner seems like the better player right now. This should be a great match, but I’ll stick with the momentum right now. Fucsovics in 4
Guido Pella vs Gregoire Barrere
Andrew: Pella will have been delighted to win his first round match against a dangerous home player, John-Patrick Smith, in three comfortable sets. Barrere, in comparison, had a very tough battle with Mohamed Safwat including three tiebreaks. Pella is a strong favourite for this match and if he can dominate from the start his extra quality should prevail here. Pella in 3
Yesh: Pella is both in better form right now and has more talent. He didn’t dominate John-Patrick Smith, but he should win this easily. Pella in 3
Hubert Hurkacz vs John Millman
Andrew: Hurkacz had an almighty scare against Dennis Novak in round one. But the Pole showed great tenacity and mental fortitude to come back from two sets down. Millman won a scrappy encounter with Ugo Humbert in which both men had terrible winner to unforced error ratios. The Aussie actually spent longer on-court than Hurkacz and the Pole’s performance level is higher at the moment. Favour Hurkacz to come through this in four sets. Hurkacz in 4
Yesh: Hurkacz had a five-set incredible comeback over qualifier Dennis Novak, while Millman took out the in-form Ugo Humbert in four sets. Millman will be slightly fresher and is playing better. Millman in 4
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