Will Stef halt the run of his American challenger?
The ambitious Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas already reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021. This year, too, the 23-year-old is considered one of the favourites in the absence of many top stars. A role he has lived up to so far. On his way to the last 16, he only lost two sets – both in tiebreaks.
Taylor Fritz has also sold himself well so far. For the first time, the American came through the third round in one piece and turned a 1-2 deficit against Roberto Bautista Agut into a 3-2 win. Now, however, in the run-up to the round of 16 between Taylor Fritz and Stefanos Tsitsipas, the odds are swinging heavily in the Greek’s favour.
The “head to head” comparison certainly plays a role here. The two athletes have faced each other twice so far and in both cases the Greek prevailed, who has already achieved far more in his career than the American, who has only won one title on the ATP Tour.
The value of betting on Taylor Fritz against Stefanos Tsitsipas is correspondingly high. We play this bet with a small Asian handicap of -4.5 games.
Taylor Fritz – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 22
Position in the seedings: 20
The 24-year-old American Taylor Fritz made his debut on the ATP Tour eight years ago. He qualified for the men’s singles of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the Australian Open in 2016.
Since then, the American has taken part in 21 Grand Slams, where he won 20 of his 41 completed singles matches. Never before has he made it past the third round.
First time ever in a Grand Slam round of 16
With this in mind, the 2022 Australian Open – Taylor Fritz’s 22nd Grand Slam tournament – can already be considered a huge success. For the first time, the 24-year-old is now in the last 16 of a Grand Slam and has thus made it into the second week of the tournament.
The man from San Diego, who has only managed to win a singles title on the ATP Tour in Eastbourne in 2019, certainly won’t be satisfied with this milestone. After all, the world number 22 now also has the chance to reach his first quarter-final.
3:2 win despite only 54% first serve rate
Also considering that Fritz goes into this match as an underdog, the American can definitely play free.
After winning the first two matches 3-0 and without dropping a set, Fritz managed to turn things around against the number 15 seed, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, after trailing 1:2 and won 3:2. For such a performance to be repeated, however, it is imperative that his first serve improves, which in the third round only arrived in 66 of 122 cases (54%)…
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Statistics & current form
Current ranking in the world: 4
Position in the seedings: 4
The 23-year-old Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas has only been playing on the ATP Tour since 2017. But with very little start-up time, the 1.93-metre tall man from Athens was able to make a splash early on.
Just one year after his debut, he reached the final of a major tournament for the first time in the summer of 2018 at Roger’s Cup. Another year later, he established himself in the top 10 of the ATP world rankings and crowned himself world champion at the 2019 ATP Finals.
Won 13 of the 17 singles at the Australian Open
The increasingly clay-court-focused Greek also came up trumps last year when he won another Major title at the Monte-Carlo Masters and stormed into the final of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the 2021 French Open.
Now Stef could repeat this great coup at the Australian Open 2022 in a very thin field. Down Under, moreover, he has already reached the semifinals twice in 2019 and 2021 and, including the three wins on his way to the last 16 again, has won 13 of his 17 singles matches at Melbourne Park.
Until now only to be broken in a tiebreak
Accordingly, Taylor Fritz is tipped to reach the quarter-finals again against Stefanos Tsitsipas, especially as he has only dropped two sets in total heading into the second week of the tournament. However, the 23-year-old lost both sets in a tiebreak, which once again showed that he sometimes lacks nerve in the decisive moments.
A shortcoming that the world number four is able to compensate for with a very strong serve on the one hand, which could not be broken once by Benoit Paire in the third round, as well as a strong return game, with which he brought it to a total of 47 winners.
Taylor Fritz – Stefanos Tsitsipas Direct comparison / H2H balance
Head to head: 0:2
The two players have faced each other twice so far, and in both cases the Greek player has come out on top. Both duels date back to 2019, when Fritz and Tsitsipas each met on indoor hard courts.
Taylor Fritz – Stefanos Tsitsipas Tip
When it comes to Taylor Fritz against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the prediction formally goes in the direction of the Greek, whose successes far outweigh those of the generally unremarkable American. While the world number four is firmly established in the top 10, has already won two Major titles and reached a Grand Slam final for the first time in 2021, Taylor Fritz has now reached the last 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career at the 22nd attempt.
It is therefore likely that the experience of Tsitsipas, whose service game has been hard to break so far in the tournament, will prevail. Accordingly, we are betting that he will win at least five more games than his American opponent in the end.
