At the end of the first week of the Australian Open, the battling games continue on for the eight men and women who have passed tough tests to win the trophy and huge prize money. Many big names shockingly failed and knocked out of the competion earlier are Rafael Nadal, the defending Champion, Iga Swiatek, the woman world number one, Caroline Garcia, the 2022’s WTA year end champion, On Jabeur , the runner up of 2022’s Wimbledon and US Open.
Among the great eight, three American men and one woman booked the tickets to be in this exciting competition while many big contenders were surprisingly knocked out in the early rounds. They are the new American generation: Sabatian Korda, Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton while on the women's side, Jessica Pegula will become a condender for the champion this year as the world number one, Iga Swiatek was knocked out in the fourth round.
From 128 men and 128 women, the eight contenders for AO champion this year who came through to the quarterfinals are as follows: Karen Khachanov (18), Sebastian Korda (29, Stefanos Tsitsipas (3), Jiri Lehecka, Andrey Rublev (5), Novak Djokovic (4), Ben Shelton, and Tommy Paul.
On the women’s side, they are Elena Rybakina (22), Jelena Ostapenko (17), Jessica Pegula (3), Victoria Azarenka (24), Karolina Pliskova (30), Magda Linette, Aryna Sabalenka (5) and Donna Vekic. Among these players, Djokovic has won a record nine Australian Open titles and Victoria Azarenka has won the AO titles two times back-in-back in 2012 and 2013
First Four quarter finals matches on Monday, January 23 are as follows:
1. E. Rybakina vs. J. Ostapenko
2. K. Khachanov vs. S. Korda
3. J. Pegula vs. V. Azarenka
4. S. Tsitsipas vs. J. Lehecka
The predictions for these matches:
1. Both Rybakina and Ostapenko have big hits and one grand slam title under their belts; Wimbledon for Rybakina and French Open for Ostapenko. Tonight they will come out and swing as hard as they can. Rybakina with the bigger killing serves must move accurately and quickly to overcome the opponent who can also hit big and often efficiently changes directions of the ball. The outcome should be Rybakina win in 3 sets.
2. Khachanov as a veteran player in the field and a big hitter should use his experience to win over Korda, the rising star who has a variety of shots making and can sustain the rally very well. I should put Khachanov over Korda in 5 sets
3. Pegula’s form improved significantly lately with the win over Swiatek in the United Cup last month and is a key player who helped team USA to win the trophy. This year is her 3rd time to reach the quarter final of the event and should be 3rd time lucky to overcome her opponent, Azalenka who even though was a 2 times AO champion ten years ago has not quite in top form as before. I would predict that Pegula will win in 2 sets
4. Tsitsipas, the number 3 seat, will clearly dominate his opponant, Lehecka, a dark horse youngster who impressively came through to the quarter final. With more experience and much improvement of serve and volley added to his being the baseline player, Tsitsipas could win this match in 3 sets.
As Always! Enjoy tennis everyone...
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