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
[crowdsignal poll=10496201]
(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
[crowdsignal poll=10496198]
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