[sc:AUS15-250 ]Roger Federer is on to the third round of the Australian Open. He’ll look to shoo away the memories of his shock defeat to Andreas Seppi in the third round in Melbourne last year. Federer faces quite an interesting challenge, not only on the court. He’s tabbed to face the man once called “Baby Fed,” Grigor Dimitrov, due to the striking similarities in each of their games.
Can Federer keep his quest for an 18th career Grand Slam title alive? Or will Dimitrov prove that he’s the next big thing in line with a big upset of Federer? Let’s take a look at this tasty Australian Open matchup. If you’re looking for more tennis action, check out our complete previews for Tomas Berdych vs. Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic vs. Andreas Seppi.
Roger Federer took a commanding straight sets victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov, needing just over an hour and 30 minutes to beat his practice partner. Federer was unbreakable on serve; he did not face a single break point and blistered 25 aces past Dolgopolov. He put in 68 percent of his first serves in and won 88 percent of those points.
[sc:Other240banner ]Federer also showcased a renewed defensive prowess. He won 45 percent of his receiving points against Dolgopolov and won 57 percent in his first round match against Nikoloz Basilashvili. He has his new coach Ivan Ljubicic, who took over after Stefan Edberg’s departure, to thank for his new defensive prowess.
The tournament’s third seed should have a pretty manageable time against next opponent Grigor Dimitrov. Federer has won all four career head-to-head matches between the two. He’s won 86 percent of his first serve points against Dimitrov across all their matchups. His new defensive prowess should also be in display considering he’s won 40 percent of his return points against Dimitrov.
Federer had won nine of his last 11 matches on hard court, including a 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4 victory over Dimitrov at the Brisbane Open earlier this month.
Betting on Grigor Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov blasted into the third round of the Australian Open with a four-set victory against Argentina’s Marco Trungelliti. Dimitrov was dominant on serve, blasting 11 aces and winning 75 percent of his first serve points. He also managed to break Tungelliti in five of nine opportunities.
Dimitrov, once called “Baby Fed” for his similar style to Roger Federer, will have a shot at ending a four-match losing streak to his Swiss opponent. All of his losses came on hard surfaces, two on Australian soil in the 2015 and 2016 Brisbane Opens. But the Bulgarian does have something going for him. He’s finally won a set against Federer in his career earlier this month in Brisbane.
Dimitrov lost a closely-contested match, 4-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, to Federer in the quarterfinal of the Brisbane Open. He fired off eight aces in the three-set loss, while winning 74 percent of his first serve points. It was the first time that he had more than seven aces and won more than 71 percent of his first serve points against Federer in his career. He also managed to break the Swiss’ serve once.
Dimitrov has won five of his last seven matches on hard court.
Writer’s Prediction
Baby Fed comes of age, but his valiant effort falls short in a five-set loss to Federer (-950).
