Matteo Berrettini will look to thrill the Melbourne crowd once again, this time in a round of 16 showdown against Pablo Carreno Busta on Sunday. Perennial fan favorite Gael Monfils will also be in action against Miomir Kecmanovic.
(7) Matteo Berrettini vs. (19) Pablo Carreno Busta
This is perhaps the most intriguing of the top half round of 16 matches. Matteo Berrettini held off an inspired charge by the Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz in the third round to win in a fifth-set tiebreaker. The match was so close that the men won exactly the same number of points (159). The win moves Berrettini into the second week — his sixth consecutive such trip at a major.
Pablo Carreno Busta hasn’t been anywhere near as consistent as Berrettini in the past year. The Spaniard was knocked out of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the first round last summer. Still, Carreno Busta is nothing if not resilient. He has been playing quite well so far this year. Counting his third-round win over Sebastian Korda he is 7-1 in 2022.
This match promises some highly competitive tennis and will almost certainly be closer than their respective rankings would suggest. Carreno Busta is ranked 21st in the world and Berrettini is seventh, but the veteran has all the tools necessary to go toe-to-toe with the No. 7 seed. He’s patient, fit, a talented hard-courter, and he’s in good form. All of that adds up to another possible barnburner for the Italian.
Melbourne Park isn’t boasting the zippiest of hard courts this year, so Berrettini — capable of unleashing a fearsome serve/forehand combination — isn’t racking up aces as quickly as he does on faster surfaces. In the five sets against Alacaraz he posted just 10 aces — two fewer than the teenager.
Cheryl pick: Berrettini in 5
Ricky pick: Berrettini in 5
(17) Gael Monfils vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic’s performance at the Australian Open this year is one of the more opportunistic efforts in recent memory. The world No. 77 was slated to play world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the first round. Instead, he went up against Salvatore Caruso, an Italian lucky loser ranked 177th in the world. Kecmanovic upset Tommy Paul and Lorenzo Sonego to earn his spot in the fourth round.
Gael Monfils has played well in 2022 so far. He kicked off the season with his first title since 2020 in Adelaide. The Frenchman had a bit of scare after twisting his ankle earlier this week, but he moved well in his third round straight-set win over Cristian Garin.
Monfils will be favored in this one, but he’s unpredictable enough that Kecmanovic will have more of a chance at the upset than his ranking would suggest.
Cheryl pick: Monfils in 4
Ricky pick: Monfils in 5
