Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will play their fourth round matches at the Australian Open as the second week of the tournament kicks off. Harsh Bhoot and Damian Kust offer their predictions for all the action including the big match, Roger Federer vs Marton Fucsovics.
Roger Federer vs Marton Fucsovics
Harsh: Roger Federer escaped by the barest of margins but he’s still in the draw and fighting for every match. His fourth-round opponent Marton Fucsovics will provide another stern baseline challenge to Federer but while John Millman had the confidence of having already beaten Federer in a Grand Slam, Fucsovics doesn’t have that luxury. The Hungarian will no doubt be posing lots of questions from the baseline but the Swiss built up a lot of momentum towards the end of the third round and if he carries that forward, Fucsovics who has played so well this week will find himself short. Federer in 4
Damian: There is one big question mark here – Federer’s ability to regenerate. There aren’t any instances in Federer’s recent history where he pulled off a win like the one against John Millman and went on to play two days later. Fucsovics will be rock-solid as always, but likely not as dangerous as the Aussie. They met here two years ago and the Hungarian came pretty close to taking a set off Federer. I expect a similar outcome with Fucsovics possibly nicking a tie-break or a closely-contested set this time around. Federer in 4
Fabio Fognini vs Tennys Sandgren
Harsh: The Australian Open wonder boy has done it again taking out Sam Querrey in three easy sets and Fabio Fognini too had it easy for a change beating Guido Pella in straights. The Italian is the higher-ranked player but at Melbourne Park, the American is pretty tough to put away. Sandgren can take a lot of heart from his good start to the week and that he has beaten Fognini before. Even though the Italian leads the head to head 2-1, Sandgren has shown enough that he’s feeling good and confident and the freedom that imparts on his game is tough to stop even for the Italian. Expect a long tough match with the wonder boy continuing his fairy tale. Sandgren in 5
Damian: Fognini has been just as unpredictable as always, coming off two tough five setters to comfortably dispatch Guido Pella. The American has mastered the art of random peaking at a big event and he can definitely play on the big stage. Fognini’s concentration is always in doubt but the Italian should be pretty focused now that he’s got such a good chance to reach the quarterfinals. That is as close to a 50/50 as it can get and I’ll lean slightly towards the Italian, whose peak performance I rate higher than Sandgren’s. Fognini in 5
Novak Djokovic vs Diego Schwartzman
Harsh: Novak Djokovic was one of the few top seeds who had it pretty easy in the third round and will seek to continue his sublime form through to the second week. As always in Melbourne, it’s more about how the Serb is playing and he’s been playing pretty well. Even though Diego Schwartzman hasn’t dropped a set so far, he’s never beaten the Serb before and he won’t be starting now especially on the hard courts of Melbourne. Djokovic looks locked in this tournament and expect another dominant performance from him. Djokovic in 3
Damian: Although it should be a sterner test than anything he’s faced so far, Djokovic will likely come out the victor. If his serving is anywhere near as good as it was against Yoshihito Nishioka, the Serbian will have an easy day at the office. Schwartzman is obviously a very fine baseliner but the serve and the return is where the big difference lies between him and the 16-time Grand Slam champion. Djokovic in 3
Milos Raonic vs Marin Cilic
Harsh: A pretty interesting fourth-round clash which sees both players having to pull out their best performance this week in their respective third round. Milos Raonic certainly gave no breathing space to Stefanos Tsitsipas who looked out of sorts and unable to create any break point chances. While the Greek couldn’t, expect Marin Cilic to fare slightly better with his flat and penetrating groundstrokes. Cilic had to fight tooth and nail against an in-form Roberto Bautista Agut and will be hoping for a good recovery. Expect a fierce contest with very less breaks of serve. The Croat leads the head to head and on his favourite surface, Cilic should be the one clinching this. Cilic in 5
Damian: Cilic has already played two five-set marathons, while the Canadian is yet to lose a set. Raonic was particularly impressive in his straight-set dismissal of Stefanos Tsitsipas, absolutely redlining the inside-out forehand. It’s tough to say where has Raonic caught that impressive form, but against an average returner like Cilic (and possibly tired), he should be able to pounce again. Raonic in 4
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