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2017 Australian Open Men's Singles, quarter-finals Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park Stan Wawrinka vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga |
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The men’s quarter-finals at the Australian Open get underway with what should be an enthralling battle as fourth seed Stan Wawrinka takes on the entertaining Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from around 2:30pm (AEDT).
Wawrinka has battled his way through the start of the 2017 season, but in good news for fans of ‘Stan the man’, he often gets better at the back end of grand slams.
Starting the season in Brisbane, he was bundled out be Kei Nishikori before showing some worrying signs in a grinding five-set victory over Martin Klizan during the first round of the Open.
To put it nicely, Wawrinka’s serve was poor and his backhand wasn’t firing – but he has seemed to get better with every match, beating Steve Johnson convincingly, then losing a set to the dangerous Viktor Troicki.
His fourth round performance was his best yet, knocking Andreas Seppi out of the tournament in straight sets and winning three tie-breakers in the process. While he may be frustrated not breaking serve, winning three times in a row under pressure looks good for anyone.
As for Tsonga, he was sent packing from Doha by Thomas Berdych, but after a very promising end to 2016, which included a run to the quarter-finals of the US Open, spirits have still been high for the Australian Open.
After beating Borna Coric in an exhibition at Kooyong, he faced Thiago Moura Monteiro in a tough first round match, which went to four sets but ultimately saw the 12th seed advance.
Tsonga would then have his easiest win of the tournament so far, putting on an entertaining display against Dusan Lajovic, before being a little more reserved in style as he got past Jack Sock and Daniel Evans, taking four sets each.
To beat players of that calibre puts Tsonga in form, and as long as he can control emotions and use his all-court game, there is no reason why he can’t pick up the win here.
The pair have faced off on seven previous occasions, but interestingly six of them were on the clay court, and their one meeting on hard court was way back in 2007.
They have met three times in the French Open, with Wawrinka leading the ledger 2-1, including a pair of five-set matches in 2011 and 2012, while Wawrinka has also gotten the better of Tsonga in the Davis Cup.
The winner will move on to the semi-finals and face either Roger Federer or Mischa Zverev.
Prediction
This should be an absolutely wonderful battle. The pair have fought it out to five sets before and it wouldn’t surprise in the slightest if they did it again. Stan and his backhand will get the job done.
Stan Wawrinka in five sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this quarter-final from around 2:30pm (AEDT) or at the completion of Coco Vandeweghe vs Garbine Muguruza and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde