The action continues in Melbourne with the players from the top half of the draw in action this Friday. Bookmakers Review breaks down the fixtures below and lists the best available odds from green listed bookmakers.
Barty vs. Barthel
Ashleigh Barty continues her successful run in Melbourne with the 20 years old featuring an extraordinary match against Shelby Rogers. Barty clearly enjoys playing with the home support and besides her success in singles, the 2013 Australian Open doubles runner-up is also on the doubles competition with her big friend – Casey Dellacqua.
After a very disappointing 2016 with Mona Barthel ending the year as world no.183, the German seems determined in returning to her best tennis. Known as a very unpredictable player, Mona can produce some unbelievable shots; however, it’s very hard for her to perform at a consistent level.
This is a huge match for both with an unprecedented possibility of reaching the 4th round of a Grand Slam event. As we mentioned before, Barty is playing at a superb level and the home support should be decisive on this contest. Therefore, the value is clearly on Ashleigh’s odds at 41/50 at Pinnacle while BetVictor offers 11/10 for Mona’s victory.
Bouchard vs Vandeweghe
Two North-American players will fight this Friday for a place in the Australian Open 4th round – Eugenie Bouchard and Coco Vandeweghe.
Despite Eugenie’s poor results in recent months, the Canadian is slowly returning to her best level. Adding to this, Bouchard is always a dangerous opponent on Grand Slams with a terrific 69.81% winning record while her overall record outside major events is only 57.89%. Bouchard was very pleased about her victory in the previous round against Shuai Peng, especially for winning the first set where she couldn’t find her best tennis.
With one of the most powerful games on the WTA Tour, Vandeweghe is always a very tough opponent. The American is for the second time in the Australian Open 3rd round after two victories against Roberta Vinci and Pauline Parmentier. Despite winning both matches in both matches in straight sets, Coco is averaging 1.91 unforced errors per game and only 1.65 winners.
Bouchard’s ability to hit the ball early should be the key in this match with the Canadian exploring Coco’s weaker baseline movement. With this in mind and due to Eugenie’s successful past on Grand Slam events, she’s definitely the right play on this match at 63/100 at Pinnacle while Vandeweghe is available at 5/4 at Ladbrokes.
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