Before each day's play Down Under, TENNIS.com editor Ed McGrogan will pick his three must-see matches.
Na Li [9] vs. Victoria Azarenka [8] (Rod Laver Arena, second day match)
?Li leads head-to-head 2-1
Li is into the second week of the Australian Open for the second consecutive year. With two more wins, she'll reach her second consecutive semi. I think she'll get one of them tonight. Li hasn't dropped a set thus far and seems inspired by the scene of her last significant triumph. Azarenka has been just as dominant so far, but I prefer Li's consistent yet powerful shotmaking to Azarenka's highs and lows?she's shown nothing but positives so far, but rarely does a tournament go by without a dip in her play. Even a slight one could be damaging against Li.
The pick: Li in three sets.
Nicolas Almagro [14] vs. Novak Djokovic [3] (Hisense Arena, second match)
?Djokovic leads head-to-head 1-0
Upset alert? Almagro is certainly the type of player who could oust a huge name, but he could just as likely be subdued in straights. I don't think either will happen. Almagro is playing well and fresh off a three-set swatting of Ivan Ljubicic. Today, he should be able to take advantage of the many short balls that will come his way?Djokovic can hit deep, but he has his lulls. But thinking about the match as a whole, the Serb should do more of the former than the latter.
The pick: Djokovic in four sets.
Andy Roddick [8] vs. Stanislas Wawrinka [19] (Rod Laver Arena, second night match)
?Wawrinka leads head-to-head 2-1
The players who've recently defeated Roddick at majors?Teymuraz Gabashvili, Yen-Hsun Lu and Janko Tipsarevic?did so unexpectedly. A loss to Wawrinka, who looked like a Top 5 player in crushing Gael Monfils, wouldn't surprise anyone. Peter Lundgren has helped Wawrinka become substantially more aggressive; we saw this at the U.S. Open and there's been more evidence in Melbourne. Roddick will have to match that tenacity. While he can, of course, do it with his serve, doing so on the ground seems like a stretch.
The pick: Wawrinka in five sets.
Source: http://feeds.tennis.com/~r/tenniscom-features/~3/UVrh03uYs98/
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