Australia’s Casey Dellacqua will be looking for revenge when she faces Madison Keys in the 2nd round of the 2015 Australian Open this afternoon on Margaret Court Arena.
Join The Roar for live scores and commentary of the match from around 3:30pm AEDT.
In their only meeting, between the two, Madison Keys eliminated Casey Dellacqua from the 2013 Australian Open. The 6-4 7-6 triumph for the American was the start of a run that got her to the third round of that year’s Open.
It is her best performance at the Australian Open and the 19 year old will be looking to repeat that today.
Looking to stop her will be Casey Dellacqua, who is looking to repeat her impressive performance last year, when she made the fourth round for the 2nd time.
The difference between Dellacqua in 2013 and the Dellacqua in 2015 is huge. Back then she was languishing around 100 in the world and would fall lower in the rankings during the year. Now, she is in the top 30, and is one of the form players in the tournament.
Today’s match-up will be closer than the clash in 2013. For both players they had impressive seasons last year.
Dellacqua rose from 125 in the rankings to 29 by the end of the year.
For Keys, she won her first WTA title. The 19-year-old, who has been described as the next best thing in American tennis, won the Eastbourne event. She also rose to a career high ranking of 27 during last year.
Despite being 19, she has had plenty of experience at Grand Slam level. This event is her 11th Grand Slam main draw appearance. Her game is also powerful for a 19-year-old.
The forehand, which is her strength, is one of the most powerful in the game when it is on song. Unfortunately for her, she struggles with it at times, and makes plenty of unforced errors.
That is the key for Dellacqua today.
She needs to use her slice, and her top spin, from her left handed shots, to force errors from Keys. If she plays a power game, she will be defeated by Keys comfortably today. This is a tough match for the Australian.
She isn’t the favourite with the bookies, and is the outsider, despite a higher ranking. The Australian is going to have to be patient today and capitalise on opportunities when they are presented by Keys.
Dellacqua can win the match but it will depend on Keys making plenty of errors. If she doesn’t then the Australian will have to serve well to stay in the sets.
I lean towards the American to defeat the Australian. Her power worries me in this match-up and I’m not sure Dellacqua can win enough points to counter that.
She will win a set but fall short of a win.
PREDICTION – Madison Keys 2-1.
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