The 3rd round comes to an end this Saturday with the players from the bottom half of the draw trying to seize Novak Djokovic’s defeat. Bookmakers Review breaks down the fixtures below and lists the best available odds from green listed bookmakers.
Bautista Agut vs. Ferrer
Two players famous for their incredible consistency will face each other this Saturday in Melbourne – Roberto Bautista Agut and David Ferrer.
Despite Ferrer’s brilliant career record on Grand Slam events, he’s far from the player he used to be. David can no longer maintain the same level of tennis throughout the entire match, which makes him a vulnerable player nowadays. In the previous round, Ferrer defeated Ernesto Escobedo in a match where he dropped the first set and had to face 13 break points.
Bautista Agut didn’t experience any problems in the previous round against Yoshihito Nishioka with an easy straight sets victory. Roberto’s forehand was once again the key to his success with the Spaniard firing 24 winners with that shot. Besides this, Bautista Agut also won 54.24% of the points played on Nishioka’s serve.
This should be a very interesting match between two outstanding fighters. Even though Ferrer has the edge on the h2h, things are different now and Agut should be too strong for him. Therefore, Bautista Agut is the right play on this match at 57/100 at William Hill while Ferrer is available 183/100 at Pinnacle.
Alexander Zverev vs. Rafael Nadal
When looking to the matches scheduled for this Saturday in Melbourne, the highlight clearly goes to the contest between Alexander Zverev and Rafael Nadal.
After losing in his previous two appearances in the 3rd round of a Grand Slam event, Zverev is trying to go a step further this time. The German is one of the most talented young players on the ATP World Tour and we should see him fighting for major titles in a few years. However, there is still a long way ahead of him before that.
Despite his defeat in the Brisbane International semi-finals against Milos Raonic, Nadal has been playing at a very good level in this start of the season. The Spaniard loves to compete on Grand Slam events with a phenomenal 86.50% winning record and defeating him on a major is always a monumental task.
Due to Rafa’s higher experience on Grand Slams and his great form, he’s the undeniable favourite for this match at 43/100 at 5Dimes while Coral offers 2/1 for Zverev’s victory. For those who want to take a higher risk, Nadal’s -4 game handicap is also a good option and is available at 77/100 at Pinnacle.
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