Fellow veterans Mikhail Youzhny and Florian Mayer will face each other in the Australian Open second round on Wednesday. At the other end of the career spectrum, Vasek Pospisil and Matthew Ebden are also looking to advance.
(14) Mikhail Youzhny vs. Florian Mayer
Youzhny and Mayer will be doing battle for the eighth time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Australian Open on Wednesday. Mayer leads the head-to-head series 4-3, but it is tied up at one win apiece on hard courts and they have not faced each other since 2011. Already with four match wins, Mayer is off to a fine start in 2014. The 37th-ranked German reached the semifinals in Doha and he had no trouble dispatching Denis Kudla in straight sets on Monday.
The David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych section of the draw presents Youzhny with a real chance to make a semifinal run. A veteran like Youzhny won’t get caught looking ahead, but he surely knows his path and he has generally been one to capitalize on big opportunities as opposed to shrinking under pressure. The 15th-ranked Russian, who rolled over Jan-Lennard Struff in the opening round, is a six-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist and a two-time semifinalist. Both players are adept at changing pace, but Youzhny’s superior firepower should be a decisive factor in hot, fast conditions.
Pick: Youzhny in 4
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Matthew Ebden vs. (28) Vasek Pospisil
Ebden on Monday enjoyed what he called the best crowd support of his career, even referring to it as “insane,” in his five-set win over Nicolas Mahut. The 67th-ranked Australian did well do erase past demons from the Melbourne major. He failed to qualify in 2007, 2008, and 2009, lost to Gael Monfils in the 2010 first round and Michael Russell in the 2011 first round, and he squandered two-set leads against both Kei Nishikori and Youzhny in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Ebden showed signs of blowing yet another huge advantage but held on to beat Mahut 6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 0-6, 6-3.
Pospisil went into this event with some serious question marks. The 30th-ranked Canadian did well to reach the Chennai semifinals, but he eventually retired against Stanislas Wawrinka due to a back injury. He then withdrew from Sydney but looked much-improved in a comprehensive straight-set beatdown of Samuel Groth in the Aussie Open first round. Both players have been in stellar form dating back to the second half of last season, so this should be an entertaining encounter amidst a great atmosphere. Ebden will have the fans, but Pospisil’s one-two, serve-forehand punch should be the difference.
Pick: Pospisil in 4
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