Will Khachanov make it past the third round for the first time?
With Karen Khachanov and Frances Tiafoe, two players from the current top 20 of the ATP world rankings will clash in the third round of the men’s singles at the Australian Open 2023. Both athletes have been drawn into the first section of the tournament tree, from which top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal has already somewhat surprisingly bowed out. Accordingly, it is interesting to bet on Karen Khachanov against Frances Tiafoe that the winner of the match will stay in the race for a few more rounds.
Both the Russian and the American have a good chance as outsiders. In the direct duel between Karen Khachanov and Frances Tiafoe, the forecast goes slightly in the direction of the Moscow player, who has won the only two duels against the American so far.
Betting on Karen Khachanov to prevail in this exciting third-round match is still a slight risk. After all, Frances Tiafoe goes into the match in very good form. The American has played seven singles matches so far in the calendar year 2023. He has won every single one of these matches.
Against this backdrop, we are avoiding the win bet and are instead betting that this third-round match will be decided in a maximum of 40 games. That includes most constellations in which the match goes over a maximum of four sets.
Karen Khachanov – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 20
Position in the seedings: 18
The 26-year-old Russian Karen Khachanov has already won four singles titles on the ATP Tour in his career, but all of them date back to the period between 2016 and 2018. Since then, the man from Moscow has only reached two finals, both of which he lost.
Nevertheless, 2022 can certainly be seen as a success for the world number 20, who just came up big at the US Open. In Flushing Meadows, Khachanov reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
Won five of seven singles matches in 2023
The Russian would love to build on this in Down Under, where he has already managed to get off to a good start. After Khachanov failed in the quarter-finals of two preparatory tournaments in Adelaide, he won the first two matches at the Australian Open.
A smooth and unchallenged 3-0 victory over Bernabé Zapata Miralles was followed by a 3-1 win over wildcard and “local hero” Jason Kubler. In total, the 26-year-old Russian now has five wins from seven completed singles matches in 2023, a figure to build on.
In the third round for the fifth time in a row
The Russian is now even favoured in the third round of the Australian Open, which Khachanov has reached for the fifth time in a row this year but has never gone past in four attempts so far. In the case of Karen Khachanov against Frances Tiafoe, the betting odds are slightly in favour of the Moscow player, who has won both previous duels with the American.
The Russian’s serve will undoubtedly be the decisive factor, as he had the upper hand in the second round against Jason Kubler because he scored 64 out of 81 times on the first serve – an impressive 79%. As a result, he only surrendered three service games in total over the course of the tournament.
Frances Tiafoe – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 17
Position in the seedings: 16
The 24-year-old American Frances Tiafoe won his first and only title on the ATP Tour in February 2018 in Delray Beach. Since then, “Big Foe” has been in four other finals but has been unable to follow it up with another overall victory.
The man from Hyattsville, who made headlines in rows with his colourful outfit in the first round of this year’s Australian Open in his bird-of-paradise look, also convinced at Grand Slam level last year, however. Just like Khachanov, Tiafoe also reached the semi-finals of the US Open 2022, but was unable to prevail there.
Won nine of the 15 singles matches at the Australian Open
After tasting blood last autumn, the world number 18 is very keen to aim high at the Australian Open. Here, Tiafoe has already advanced to the quarter-finals in the 2019 edition. In his other five appearances in the main draw, however, he only managed three wins in total.
The American’s start has been correspondingly positive, as he reached the third round of the important tennis tournament in Melbourne for only the second time in his career with two unchallenged victories, taking his Australian Open record to nine wins from 15 singles matches.
First to lose a service game in the tournament
So far, “Big Foe” has had an excellent start to the 2023 season. The 24-year-old won the overall United Cup with Team USA at the beginning of the year, winning all five of his singles matches and dropping just one set.
In total, the American has seven wins from seven singles matches in 2023, which he now wants to build on. Karen Khachanov’s betting on his entry into the last 16 against Frances Tiafoe is basically not ill-starred. Although he had to drop a set in his opening match, he has only failed to win one service game in the entire course of the tournament.
Karen Khachanov – Frances Tiafoe Direct comparison / H2H record
Head to head: 2:0
Twice I have faced both athletes so far and both matches took place at Grand Slam level. At the 2019 and 2021 Wimbledon Championships, Karan Khachanov prevailed on grass on both occasions.
Karen Khachanov – Frances Tiafoe Tip
The 2-0 lead in the direct comparison certainly ensures that the prediction for Karen Khachanov against Frances Tiafoe is leaning towards the Russian. However, the Muscovite has never made it past the third round of the Australian Open before and is already on two losses from seven singles in 2023. Frances Tiafoe, who has also played seven singles, has won all seven of his matches in comparison.
The outcome of this eagerly awaited third round match between two top-20 players is correspondingly difficult to predict. We therefore resort to betting that a maximum of 40 games are needed before the winner is decided.
