With the top seeds still intact, the first and second quarters of the draw take the court on Monday. Daniil Medvedev will battle 2014 Austrailian Open champion Stan Wawrinka, while Andrey Rublev goes up against Alexander Zverev.
(4) Daniil Medvedev vs. (15) Stan Wawrinka
This is a rematch of their U.S. Open quarterfinal showdown just last September. Wawrinka found himself the unlikely crowd favorite, as Medvedev was still playing the role of tournament villain at the time. Unfortunately for the Swiss, it didn’t help him much. Medvedev won in four and went on to push Rafael Nadal to five thrilling sets in the final before going down to the Spaniard.
Medvedev has worked his way into fighting form over the first week in Melbourne. The Russian dropped a set to Frances Tiafoe in the first round, but he rolled past Pedro Martinez and Alexei Popyrin to earn his spot in the last 16.
Wawrinka has had to work hard to get the fourth round. The world No. 15 had a tricky opener against Damir Dzumhur, which featured four competitive sets. Life didn’t get any easier for the Swiss in the second round. Italian veteran Andreas Seppi took Wawrinka to five sets. Following the match, Wawrinka revealed that he was experiencing flu-like symptoms. He was granted a reprieve in the third round, when John Isner was forced to retire mid-match with a foot injury.
Unless Wawrinka has made a miraculous recovery from his illness, Medvedev is likely to find himself in a second consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Cheryl pick: Medvedev in 4
Ricky pick: Wawrinka in 5
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(17) Andrey Rublev vs. (7) Alexander Zverev
Zverev has proven to be quite an unkind matchup for Rublev. The two men have played three times since 2016 and Zverev has won each encounter in straight sets. Of course, this is quite a different Rublev than the one who was bageled by Zverev in Shanghai a few months ago.
Rublev came into Melbourne with two titles in as many tournaments to kick off the 2020 season. The Russian, ranked No. 16 in the world, has dropped a couple of sets on his way to the fourth round, but he was impressive in the third round where he took out No. 11 seed David Goffin. Match fatigue may be a factor as the tournament wears on, but Rublev hasn’t shown any signs of it during the first week of play.
Zverev has long been considered the frontrunner of the younger generation of players. He has been ranked as high as No. 3 in the world, but his success at other tournaments has not translated to the majors. A pair of quarterfinal showings in Paris are his best results at slams.
The good news for Zverev is that his serve–a shot he struggled with for most of 2019–seems to be working just fine this fortnight. He has not dropped a set on his way to the fourth round. The bad news is that he faces Rublev, who is the hottest player on tour in the young 2020 season. This could be a real treat of a match provided Zverev’s serve doesn’t desert him.
Cheryl pick: Rublev in 5
Ricky pick: Rublev in 4
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WYG?
Very good pick Ricky by the way! Right on the money with Stan even down to # of sets!
Med n rublev in 4
Medvedev in 4, maybe even in stragight. I can’t believe Ricky that u pick Waw here. But, knowing u pick RBA over Novak and Shapo over Fed at the beginning of the tournament, I understand:PPP:) U r great, of course.
Rublev-Zverev..Match of the tournamnet so far, cos both of them are in great form. I will go with Rublev on 5. Still staying on my prediction before tournament for final: Novak – Medvedev, Novak wins in 4!!!
Medvedev in 3 and Zverev in 4.
Zverev in 4
Medevdev in 4
Medevedev is 2-zip against Wawa, both in GS when Wawa arguably brings his best.
Zverev is 3-zip, 2 on hard court. Clearly not a good match up for Rublev.
Rublev has never won a set of Zverev
and Zverev hasnt dropped a set yet also.
Very ambitious predictions.
Zverev ML (-111)!!! I think this is where rublevs streak comes to an end , alexander looked solid if he stays focoused and keeps the DF at bay he has a very good chance against a player where hes unbeaten!!
Stan takes the tie-break to push Medvedev to 5. Then he breaks and consolidates to open the 5th! Approaching God-mode at the moment, hitting winners at will. Wawrinka is surely the player Novak would want to face the least in the final -though probably Fed’s favorite choice.
When Wawa is seeing it like this he’s almost unbeatable. he doesnt know how to miss.
What a match Medvedev stan..totally enjoyed it ..this match seemed like tsitsi Wawa rg fourth round..
I hope stan does not fall to zverev or rublev after this..
congratulations to me
Semi grats to you! 🙂 You got Zverev-Rublev wrong! But big grats to ME! I had Stan in 5, too, and AZ as the winner although I had him going 5 sets, sort of in tribute to his usual 5 sets for the majors. I just thought Rublev might run out of steam – he’s played so much already.
Stan is the perfect player to deal with a Djoko, and his ‘clone’ player that is Medvedev. His game is just the right game to deal effectively with theirs.
I actually think that when Delpo has his belief, he is also the player to beat Djoko on the HCs; another one is Sasha of the young generation, too bad both of them are not as consistently good, unlike Stan.
Stan has now overpowered and outplayed Meddy, the number four player. Well done to the former AO champion.
Very good display by Stan today, very good indeed! Stan looks dangerous!
I think Wawrinka, more than any other player I can think of, is a confidence player. When he is feeling it, you can see it in every aspect of how he carries himself and how he swings the racquet. For much of the match, but especially in the first and last sets, he was Stanimal. For the 2nd and 3rd sets, just a different player. Count him as another who could definitely win this tournament if he plays like he did for most of today.
As for Medvedev, the guy is amazing, but he needs to play more aggressively in the rallies when facing a player like Wawa. He’s too smart not to learn, and young enough that he’s got plenty of time. I still see him winning a major soon.
Bravo, Ricky!!! I apologize for not take too seriously your predition on Wawa. Zverev also played outstanding tennis right now and, for me, he is a slight favourite against Wawrinka. Good for him, if he beats Wawrinka, this will be his best result in Slams. He also has chances against Rafa. IMO, THiem and Zverev can beat Rafa sooner than Wawrinka, Rafa has the game for Stanimal.