Ricky’s Tennis Picks At The 2019 Australian Open • Including Djokovic vs. Medvedev & Zverev vs. Raonic

Daniil Medvedev of Russia in action against David Goffin of Belgium during their round three men’s singles match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2019. EPA-EFE/HAMISH BLAIR

 

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

Fourth-round action at the Australian Open wraps up on Monday, when the last quarterfinal spots will be handed out. Novak Djokovic continues his campaign against Danill Medvedev, while Alexander Zverev and Kei Nishikori are also in action. Ricky previews three of the best matchups and makes his picks.

 

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (15) Danill Medvedev

Djokovic and Medvedev will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Monday nigt. Both of their previous meetings have gone the way of Djokovic, who got a fourth-set retirement from Medvedev during the 2017 Davis Cup competition before coasting 6-4, 6-4 two years ago on the grass courts of Eastbourne. Medvedev is a much different player now, up to No. 19 in the world thanks to three titles last year and a recent runner-up showing in Brisbane. So far in Melbourne he has cruised past Lloyd Harrison, Ryan Harrison, and David Goffin all in easy straight sets.

After achieving perfection through two matches (beat Mitchell Krueger and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga without even playing a tiebreaker), Djokovic endured a minor hiccup against Denis Shapovalov but still rolled 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. The top seed has every reason to be the title favorite this fortnight as the world No. 1 and six-time AO champion. An in-form Medvedev will make him work even harder than Shapovalov did, but Djokovic should be on his way to the QFs. Djokovic in 4.

 

(4) Alexander Zverev vs. (16) Milos Raonic

In terms of competition level, Raonic has been the best player so far this fortnight. He opened with a win over Nick Kyrgios and then ousted former Aussie Open champion Stan Wawrinka. Raonic got a brief reprieve from the draw in the form of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and promptly disposed of the Frenchman in straight sets.

Things ratchet back up in a hurry in the form of Zverev on Monday. Still, Raonic won’t shy away from another tough ask–not after passing the tests issued by Kyrgios and Wawrinka. The former Wimbledon runner-up also won their most recent meeting, coming back from two sets to one down to defeat Zverev in five at the All-England Club in 2017. As for the German, he has been solid but unspectacular so far this fortnight. He will have to be spectacular in order to hold off Raonic. Raonic in 4.

 

(23) Pablo Carreno Busta vs. (8) Kei Nishikori

Even on hard courts, Carreno Busta is no stranger to slam success. The Spaniard, who advanced to the French Open quarterfinals in 2017 on his preferred clay-court surface, made a run to the USO semis three months later. But success at this Aussie Open was not expected, as Carreno Busta struggled in 2018 and recently lost his second match in Auckland to Jan-Lennard Struff. Suddenly, though, the world No. 23 is through to round four following victories over Luca Vanni, Ilya Ivashka, and Fabio Fognini.

Up next for Carreno Busta is is a first-ever (what?!?!) encounter with Nishikori. Somehow these two veterans have gone head-to-head, but that drought will end after Nishikori scraped past Kamil Majchrzak (via fifth-set retirement), Ivo Karlovic (in a fifth-set super-breaker), and Joao Sousa (in straight sets). Thus the Japanese world No. 9 is 7-0 this season, with a title in Brisbane to prepare himself for these Melbourne festivities. Nishikori raised his level against Sousa and this probably isn’t a favorable matchup for Carreno Busta, who doesn’t have the firepower with which to hit Nishikori off the court. Nishikori in 4.

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @TennGrand.