Aussie Open: Day 5 Analysis and Picks
By Charles Bricker
Yesterday's record: 2-2
Tourney record: 11-4 (+4.99 units)
(12) GAEL MONFILS (+118) VS. (19) STANISLAS WAWRINKA (-128)
Very tight matchups pitting perhaps the best athlete in tennis (Monfils) against one of the sport’s most relentless competitors. The Swiss reached the third round with two straight-set wins while Monfils had to come from two down to beat Thiemo DeBakker and dropped a set to young Federico Gil in the second. The Frenchman has a 2-1 head-to-head edge and a better rank, but Wawrinka looks in better form.
Pick: Wawrinka
(14) NICOLAS ALMAGRO (-114) VS. (17) IVAN LJUBICIC (+105)
Two big hitters, but the difference is Luby's superior play on hardcourt. Almagro has come a long way from the Spanish clay to improve on the faster courts, but he still has a losing record on hard while Ljubicic has seven hardcourt titles. Luby holds a 3-1 lifetime edge, the last two wins, oddly, on clay. He reached the third round with a four-setter over French qualifier Benoit Paire. Almagro is into the third with a five-set struggle against Igor Andreev.
Pick: Ljubicic
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA (-140) VS. VESNA MANASIEVA (+129)
Here are two more young players out of the European hinterlands who you've probably never heard of. You'd better take note. Sevastova, from Latvia, had quietly slipped into No. 46 in the rankings coming into Melbourne and had never won a Grand Slam match. She's now in the third round after upsetting No. 21 Yanina Wickmayer. On the same day, her Russian qualifier opponent stunned No. 15 Marion Bartoli, 6-0 in the third. These two have played once before, in a qualifying match at Wimbledon in 2008, won by Manasieva. So, officially, they're 0-0.
Pick: Sevastova