Tennis

Taylor Fritz vs Alexei Popyrin Prediction and Odds: Australian Open

Taylor Fritz is set to take on Alexei Popyrin in the second round of the Australian Open tomorrow morning as his quest for a maiden grand slam continues. The American is currently ranked 9th in the world but is yet to go beyond the quarter-final stage at any of the four slams. Ahead of the game, we’ve put together a couple of pre-match predictions.

These odds from Ladbrokes were correct at the time of writing

Taylor Fritz vs Alexei Popyrin – Match Predictions

Fritz is undoubtedly the favourite going into the match but Popyrin will have the support of the Melbourne crowd. Let’s take a closer look at our predictions:

Prediction 1: Fritz to Win 3-0

Fritz is the world number nine for a reason and he shouldn’t have too much trouble dispatching Alexei Popyrin. Although the American had to go to four sets to win his first-round match against Nikoloz Basilashvili, we aren’t anticipating a repeat of that on this occasion. Popyrin, on the other hand, came through a grueling five set match with Chun Hsin Tseng in round one and the Australian will certainly be feeling it. The last person he is going to want to see is the big serving Fritz and we are backing him to get the job done comfortably.

Prediction 2: Over 18.5 Total Games in Set 1 And Set 2 Combined

Although we anticipate Fritz to win in straight sets, we are expecting Popyrin to give it a good go early on. With the home crowd behind him, he will more than likely put everything he has into the opening couple of sets. Tie breaks are also a regular occurrence in Fritz’s games due to his impressive serving. Once the American has broken the back of the game, Popryin will likely fade in set three.

Taylor Fritz vs Alexei Popyrin Preview

Fritz will be the more familiar name to casual audiences with Popyrin only in the tournament thanks to a wild card. Let’s get to know them both more.

Taylor Fritz

Taylor Fritz has been a regular at the top end of men’s tennis for a good few years now and has won four titles to date on the ATP Tour. He will perhaps be slightly disappointed with his grand slam record so far but at just 25, there is plenty of time for him to turn that around. His powerful style of play translates well on a hard court and should at least make the second week in Melbourne

Alexei Popyrin

Alexei Popyrin had a 2022 to forget as the young Australian fell out of the world’s top 100. As a result, he has had to rely on a wild card in order to qualify for the Australian Open. Victory in the first round will have given him the boost he needed after a miserable 2022 and a good performance here could set up for a route back to the world’s top 100.

Fritz vs Popyrin Head to Head

Fritz and Popyrin have only faced each other on one previous occasion. That time, at the Washington Open in 2022, Fritz came out on top in straight sets.

Taylor Fritz vs Alexei Popyrin Match Details

melbourne

  • Where to watch AO 2023 in UK? You can watch Australian Open on Eurosport broadcast and online, or stream it on Discovery
  • Who does the winner play in round three? The winner will play the winner of Nicolas Jarry and Ben Shelton
  • What time does the match start? The match is estimated to begin at around 04:00 GMT on Thursday the 19th of January.


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