Ricky’s Picks For Day 3 Of The Australian Open, Including Nadal vs. Ebden & Monfils vs. Fritz

Picture taken with a fisheye lens of a general view of the Rod Laver Arena during the men’s singles first round match between Novak Djokovic (front) of Serbia and Mitchell Krueger (back) of the USA at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 15 January 2019. EPA-EFE/LUKAS COCH

 

 

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By Ricky Dimon

 

Second-round Australian Open action begins on Wednesday, as Rafael Nadal continues his campaign against another Aussie–this time Matthew Ebden. Roberto Bautista Agut, Gael Monfils, and Taylor Fritz are also taking the court. Ricky previews four of the best matchups and makes his picks.

 

Matthew Ebden vs. (2) Rafael Nadal

Nadal headed into Melbourne as a major question mark and he will have to do a lot more than beat James Duckworth to erase those doubts, but early returns were encouraging on Monday. The world No. 2 took care of Duckworth 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 in a somewhat bizarre match in which rallies were few and far between due to the underdog’s unwillingness to compete with Nadal from the baseline. Ebden did well to climb out of a significant hole against Jan-Lennard Struff to pull off a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory. However, Ebden poses little threat–much less than Struff, in fact–to Nadal with his relative lack of firepower. The 31-year-old will also rush the net at every opportunity in this matchup and we just saw how that worked out for Duckworth. Nadal in 3.

 

(30) Gael Monfils vs. Taylor Fritz

Monfils, who was a question mark going into this fortnight, took an injury timeout in the first set against Damir Dzumhur on Monday. He proceeded to lose just four total games in the entire match. Fritz avenged a recent Auckland setback by disposing of doubles partner Cameron Norrie in straight sets. That is an outstanding result for the up-and-coming American, and Monfils–despite his performance against Dzumhur–cannot be trusted due to health issues. Fritz in 4.

 

Tomas Berdych vs. Robin Haase

Thirteen years after their first meeting, Berdych and Haase will be facing each other for the sixth time on Wednesday. Berdych leads the head-to-head series 3-2. The two veterans squared off twice in 2017, when Haase got the job done 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Dubai before the Czech prevailed 7-6(5), 6-3 on the red clay of Madrid. Berdych managed to produce just one good event in 2018 and it was none other than the Aussie Open, where he reached the quarters before falling to Roger Federer. The 33-year-old missed much of the season’s remainder because of a back injury, but he has come back like gangbusters so far in 2019. He finished runner-up in Doha before blasting Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-0, 7-5 on Monday. Haase, a straight-set winner over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, had previously lost during first-round action in both Doha and Auckland. Berdych in 4.

 

(22) Roberto Bautista Agut vs. John Millman

The match of the day on Monday–by far–was Bautista Agut vs. Andy Murray, as the Spaniard held off the soon-to-be-retired Scot in five sets. Another fun one should be in the cards, as these two baseline grinders have similar styles and both are in strong form at the moment (Bautista Agut captured the Doha title, while Millman is sporting a 4-2 record this season following a R1 victory over Federico Delbonis). RBA is 3-0 at the ATP level in the head-to-head series, but Millman has taken a set on two occasions. Bautista Agut in 5.

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @TennGrand.