Australian Open R4 preview and prediction: Djokovic vs. Simon

Novak Djokovic will continue his Australian Open campaign on Sunday with a fourth-round test against Gilles Simon. Djokovic, who is bidding for his sixth title at this event, has not yet dropped a set in Melbourne.

Novak Djokovic and Gilles Simon will be squaring off for the 11th time in their careers when they clash in round four of the Australian Open on Sunday. Djokovic is making a mockery of the head-to-head series 9-1 and has won nine in a row since losing their first-ever encounter 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 on the indoor hard courts of Marseille in 2008. Eight of Djokovic’s victories over the Frenchman have come on hard courts, although none has come at a Grand Slam. Their only previous major meeting took place at Wimbledon in 2014, when Djokovic cruised 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

Perhaps nowhere is the world No. 1 more dominant than he is Down Under. A title this fortnight would be his sixth in Melbourne and fifth in the last six years. Djokovic’s bid is off to a fine start, as he has advanced with straight-set defeats of Hyeon Chung, Quentin Halys, and Andreas Seppi. Coming off a title in Doha, Djokovic is a perfect 8-0 on the season. But he has was not in peak form–not did he have to be–against Chung, Halys, or Seppi.

“I’m still not very satisfied with certain parts of the second and third set,” the top-seeded Serb after holding off Seppi 6-1, 7-5, 7-6(6). “I think I could have done better. But I played a quality player who took out (Roger) Federer last year here and who has been on the tour for many years. He is not afraid to play big tennis on a big stage. He likes it, I think. It was a great test. It was a physical match; a lot of exchanges from the baseline. I’m just glad to go through.”

Simon punched his ticket to the last 16 while enduring one real scare along the way. After getting past Vasek Pospisil in four sets, the 15th-ranked Frenchman outlasted Evgeny Donskoy 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(1), 4-6, 7-5. He then bounced back to pummel Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 on Friday. Simon is through to the Aussie fourth round for the third time in his career and he is looking for his second quarterfinal appearance (2009).

Similar to Seppi, Simon is a rock-solid baseliner who has sneaky power off both wings but does not win many free points on serve. A similar scoreline could be in store, too, because Djokovic may not raise his level until the latter rounds. The match-fixing story that has plagued the first week of the tournament certainly has not helped the favorite’s mental state. He will almost certainly take care of business against Simon, but it will not be entirely routine.

Pick: Djokovic in 3 losing 11-13 games

[polldaddy poll=9282158]