ozza1310

Two very different players face off on Rod Laver Arena tonight looking to secure their place in the semi finals of the first major of the year and a potential matchup with either Grigor Dimitrov or Kyle Edmund. The main battle will surround Nadal's ability to nullify Cilic's serve. Across the court it will be a case of how many free points Cilic will get from his first serve. Delving deeper Nadal holds a 5-1 lifetime record against the Croatian and the two most recent times they have played in 2017 Nadal winning both, he has attacked the second serve of Cilic, only allowing him to win a combined total of 41% on his second serve. This allows Nadal to take control of the point early and move his less agile opponent around the court. If he is unable to do so he will face a sterner test as Cilic will capitalise on short ineffective returns. Not that Rafa needs any motivation but should he battle past Cilic and win the tournament he will be the only player in the open to win all four majors twice. Historically it doesn't make for good reading for Cilic as he has only managed to take a single set of the Spaniard in their six meetings. I predict Rafa to continue his dominance of the Croatian and win in 4 sets.

Having flown under the radar all the way to to the 4th round relatively unscathed Djokovic is starting to play the tennis his fans are used to. The low profile run is exactly what the former world number one is after, having faced a season dogged by injury and inconsistent form last year. He faces the tenacious Chung who I incorrectly tipped against in his last round against Alexander Zverev. Chung came through in 5 tough sets against the German and will have to turn this into a dogfight should he stand a chance. Djokovic has great majors experience and I feel has more variation in his game than Zverev and will be able to mix it up against the South Korean prodigy, A lot of heart from Chung but it won't be enough against the Djoker. They faced off once before and it was at last years open Djokovic prevailing in straight sets. Chung has since developed immensely but can't see him troubling Djokovic too much.

Out of all the fixtures in today's draw I see this the only one where value can be extracted. The tournament has thrown up some surprises and this caught me out as I believed Del Porto would defeat Berdych. It is a big chance for both players to start 2018 on the right foot and really give their rankings a boost. Should Berdych play the way he did against Del Potro and ominate from the back of the court I feel he wil win this comfortably. Fognini on his day can play world beating tennis but has been guilty of slow starts. My prediction is Berdych in 4 sets.

Two of the games perennial underachievers in the modern era. Delpo suffered through a string of injuries and a slow and steady decline over the past 2 years has seen Berdych drop out of the top 20 once. Both players at stages in their careers have shown signs of promise but ultimately never really delivered to their full potential. Out of the two Del Potro has shown signs of returning to his best and can beat the worlds best on his day. Berdych has shown signs of mental weakness in tight matches. Both big serving so we could see tight sets where one break could be enough. Where the big advantage lies for Del Potro is his tie break winning percentage of 71% vs. 52% from Berdych. I predict Del Potro to make a statement to the rest of the competition and take this in straight sets 3-0.

Chung has started 2018 where he left the end of 2017 with wins over a number of top 20 players. After winning the Nitto Next Gen finals title he has shown signs of a breakout year. After watching Zverev in Perth against Roger Federer he pushed the all-time great to three sets winning the opening set in a tie breaker. It was Federer who came out and announced that Zverev would be a real threat this year. Both players are 21 but big match experience favours Zverev. I can see Chung threatening Zverev early but it's not his favoured surface (clay) where he can utilise his fitness and scrambling tennis. I think Zverev will take this one 3 -1. Also to note temperatures have dropped significantly in Melbourne, which will aid the German should it go the distance.