Australian Open Day 5 Preview: Five Must-See Matches

With the third round of play already upon us, Friday will be the day seeded players start to collide in the singles draws. On the halves of the draws playing today, 18 of the 32 seeds have made it this far. The Wozniacki/Sharapova clash will take top billing on the women’s schedule, while Rafael Nadal’s first-ever meeting with an exciting Australian teenager will be the marquee men’s match of the day.

Caroline Wozniacki (3) vs. Maria Sharapova (30)

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It’s the 2008 Australian Open champion vs. the 2018 champion. Both women have looked extremely sharp through two rounds. Neither have dropped a set, and Sharapova has only lost three games in the four sets she’s played. Sharapova is 6-4 lifetime against Wozniacki, dating back to their first meeting almost 11 years ago, though they haven’t played since 2015. Wozniacki’s four victories have all come on hard courts, including the two previous times they’ve squared off at a Major (the 2010 and 2014 US Opens). The deciding factor here will be if Sharapova can keep her unforced error and double fault counts down despite Wozniacki’s defensive abilities. Caroline will force Maria to hit more shots to end a rally than Sharapova’s previous opponents. Maria hit seven double faults in the first round, but cut that number down to only two in the second round. However, I suspect Wozniacki’s movement and down-the-line groundstrokes will spell trouble for Sharapova.

Rafael Nadal (2) vs. Alex de Minaur (27)

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If the Australian No.1 has anything left after his four-hour victory on Wednesday, this could be a lot of fun. De Minaur is the third straight Australian that Nadal has faced this week. There were a lot of questions as to Rafa’s condition ahead of this fortnight, his first event since the US Open. He worked to heal multiple injuries in the fall, but still had to pull out of Brisbane two weeks ago with a thigh strain. Nadal though showed no signs of being less than 100% in his first two rounds. De Minaur must be a bit tired coming off Day 3’s five-setter, and considering he’s now played seven matches over the past 11 days. Alex claimed his first career title just last week in Sydney, and is now at a career-high ranking of 29th in the world. Hopefully the physically fit 19-year-old can recover ahead of this encounter. One thing we know for sure is he will give 100% of whatever energy he has left. With former Australian No.1’s Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic struggles, both losing in the first round, de Minaur now finds himself sharing the Australian spotlight with the country top female player, Ashleigh Barty. But both de Minaur and Barty have seemed to embrace the pressure of playing at home so far this year. Still, defeating Nadal in the best-of-five format remains one of the sport’s tallest tasks. De Minaur’s speed and fighting spirit should make this an exciting affair, but Rafa is still the favorite to advance.

Aryna Sabalenka (11) vs. Amanda Amisimova

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This could be a thrilling glimpse into the future of tennis, with two powerful young players who will likely contend for Major titles sooner than later. Sabalenka is actually some pundits’ pick to win this tournament. The 20-year-old from Belarus has already become a force in the sport. She burst onto the scene last year, accumulating a tally of 51 match wins in 2018. Her momentum built as the year progressed, winning her first tour-level titles in August and September. Her success has continued in 2019, winning the Shenzhen event to start the year. Anisimova, a 17-year-old American, started to turn heads last year at Indian Wells, with straightforward upsets over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Petra Kvitova. She’s been most impressive this week in Melbourne, especially in her victory over the 24th seed, Lesia Tsurenko, where she dropped only two games. The older and more experienced Sabalenka is the favorite, but the red-hot Anisimova is capable of making this very interesting.

Diego Schwartzman (18) vs. Tomas Berdych

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Surprisingly, this will be the first career meeting between these two veterans. Schwartzman’s best result in Melbourne came one year ago, when he advanced to the fourth round and gave Nadal all he could handle in a stellar match. Berdych is a two-time semifinalist at this tournament, and has made the quarterfinals or better in seven out of the last eight years. The Australian Open has easily been Tomas’ most consistent Major. Berdych is coming off a long injury layoff in 2018, but has quickly returned to good form. The 33-year-old made the final in his first tournament since June in Doha, and won his first two matches in Melbourne in straight sets. That included a first run victory over the 13th seed, Kyle Edmund, who was a semifinalist last year. Schwartzman meanwhile has already played nine sets of tennis this week, and barely survived his second round against Denis Kudla. Diego was down 4-2 in the final set before taking the last four games and the match. That near-four hour battle will surely leave Schwartzman’s tank less than full. And with Berdych playing well again, Tomas should be able to defeat another seed on Friday.

Petra Kvitova (8) vs. Belinda Bencic

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Kvitova is attempting to make inroads at a Major for the first time in a long time. Twice a Wimbledon champion, she has only made two quarterfinal appearances at Majors in her 16 most recent Grand Slam events. Petra has been extremely successful outside the Majors, winning five tournaments last year, and taking the title in Sydney just last week. She eased through her first two rounds here, losing only nine games. Kvitova is noticeably slimmer and fitter to start off the 2019 season, which will hopefully help her as the fortnight progresses. Bencic is still working to rebuild her career after multiple injury setbacks. She defeated two tough unseeded opponents thus far in Melbourne, in Katerina Siniakova and Yulia Putintseva. And she knows how to beat a big-serving and big-hitting top name at the Australian Open: last year she upset Venus Williams in the opening round. Kvitova is 2-0 lifetime against Bencic, winning all four sets they’ve played. Judging by Kvitova’s form this month, she’ll dictate play and be a tough out. But Petra’s level can greatly vary from match-to-match, and she can ill afford a dip against the talented and resurgent 21-year-old.

Other notable matches on Day 5:

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  Roger Federer (3) vs. 21-Year-Old Taylor Fritz, who upset Gael Monfils on Wednesday
• Angelique Kerber (2) vs. Australian Wild Card Kimberly Birrell
• In a battle of countries with vocal supporters in Melbourne, Australian No.1 Ashleigh Barty (15) vs. Maria Sakkari of Greece
• Sloane Stephens (5) vs. Petra Martic (31), who advanced to the fourth round here a year ago
• Karen Khachanov (10), who won the Paris Masters in November, vs. Roberto Bautista Agut (22), who has already survived two dramatic five-setters this week.

Order of play