Roger Federer rolled through his first Australian Open match in straight sets and he will be back in action against Jan-Lennard Struff on Thursday. Second-round action also features a showdown between Dominic Thiem and qualifier Denis Kudla.
Jan-Lennard Struff vs. (2) Roger Federer
Federer and Struff will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they collide in round two of the Australian Open on Thursday. Their only previous meeting came two years ago on the grass courts of Halle, where Federer prevailed 6-4, 7-6(3). The 36-year-old went on to triumph at Wimbledon–his second Grand Slam title of the season following success in Melbourne–and he finished No. 2 in the world behind Rafael Nadal. Showing no signs of slowing down in 2018, Federer teamed up with Belinda Bencic to win the Hopman Cup for Switzerland and he routed Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Struff registers at No. 55 in the world, 11 spots off his career-high ranking. The German played well at his opening tournament of this season in Doha, upsetting Tomas Berdych in a third-set tiebreaker before falling to eventual title winner Gael Monfils in three sets. Struff lost right away in Sydney to Damir Dzumhur, but he capitalized on a favorable first-round draw at the Aussie Open to pummel wild card Soonwoo Kwon 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. The 27-year-old can bring the heat with his serve so he may be able to make a couple of sets competitive by holding on a consistent basis, but it should be mostly routine for Federer.
Pick: Federer in 3 losing 11-14 games
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(5) Dominic Thiem vs. (Q) Denis Kudla
Thiem is No. 5 in the world and a two-time French Open semifinalist, but he has not done anything notable at any other slam–aside from suffering arguably 2017’s worst single-match collapse in a five-set U.S. Open loss to Juan Martin Del Potro. The bottom line is that when he is relegated to a surface other than clay, the 24-year-old Austrian is not the same player. Is that going to change in 2018? The sample size up to this point is too small to be conclusive, but early indications are favorable. Thiem is 4-0 this season (all on hard courts, of course) and 9-0 in total sets. He advanced to the Doha semifinals before withdrawing due to illness and he took care of fellow Doha semifinalist Guido Pella 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday in Melbourne. That was an especially impressive result for Thiem, as Pella was not only in fine form but also 2-0 in the head-to-head series with a pair of straight-set victories over his much higher-ranked opponent.
Up next for the fifth seed on Thursday is a second career contest against Kudla, who lost their only previous encounter 6-3, 6-2 on the hard courts of Brisbane in 2016. The 25-year-old American is struggling down at No. 190 in the rankings, but he is off to a stellar start at Melbourne Park. Kudla qualified for the main draw and ousted compatriot Steve Johnson 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-2 during first-round action. Johnson has been mired in a considerable slump dating back to last season, so this is a steep step up in competition level for Kudla. Thiem should have no trouble carrying his sudden hard-court confidence with him into the third round Down Under.
Pick: Thiem in 3
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