Novak Djokovic and Milos Raonic are on a collision course for the quarterfinals as they continue their Australian Open campaigns on Monday. Djokovic is facing Gilles Muller and Raonic is going up against Feliciano Lopez.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Gilles Muller
After a combined 26 years on the ATP Tour, Djokovic and Muller will be going head-to-head for the first time during Australian Open fourth-round action on Monday. Djokovic’s projected opponent in the last 16 was either Roberto Bautista Agut or John Isner, but Muller took care of both seeds with little trouble. Those four-set victories were preceded by a competitive three-setter against Pablo Carreno Busta. At 31, the Luxembourgian is already up to a career-high ranking of 42nd in the world and he will climb to no worse than No. 36 next week.
Although Djokovic has never gotten a look at Muller’s huge serve, he is obviously no stranger to facing left-handers so he should not feel too uncomfortable. Plus in this form (17-1 in his last 18 matches and 28-2 in his last 30) and at this tournament (he is a four-time champion), it really should not matter who is on the other side of the net and with which hand they wield their weapon. Djokovic advanced to the last 16 by disposing of Aljaz Bedene, Andrey Kuznetsov, and Fernando Verdasco in nine total sets with just a single tiebreaker. Count on competitiveness early before arguably the best returner in the game gets a read on Muller’s serve and seizes complete control.
Pick: Djokovic in 3 with one tiebreaker
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(12) Feliciano Lopez vs. (8) Milos Raonic
Raonic struggled in his debut at the World Tour Finals, but he has otherwise been in borderline abusive form of late. He finished runner-up last fall in Paris and earlier this season in Brisbane. So far this fortnight the eighth-ranked Canadian is one of four men along with Djokovic, Tomas Berdych, and Stan Wawrinka who have not yet surrendered a set. He has taken out Illya Marchenko, Donald Young, and Benjamin Becker while dropping serve only once (to Becker) and facing a total of four break points.
Nobody was luckier in the first two rounds than Lopez, who is 2-2 lifetime against Raonic after pulling off a 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 upset last summer in Toronto. The 14th-ranked Spaniard saved three match points in his opener before outlasting Denis Kudla 10-8 in the fifth set then got a retirement from Adrian Mannarino shortly after the Frenchman served for a straight-set victory. Lopez picked up the pace on Saturday, blitzing Jerzy Janowicz via a surprisingly routine 7-6(6), 6-4, 7-6(3) scoreline. His crafty backhand slice can frustrate a big guy like Raonic, but Lopez’s overall return game will not be able to make a serious impression against an opponent serving as big as the eighth seed is right now.
Pick: Raonic in 3
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Meanwhile the delicious Feli is determined to give Raonic a workout. He’s just nabbed the second set 🙂