You probably know the story by now: The 19-year-old Keys was first drawn to tennis at age 4, when she noticed the dress that Venus was wearing on TV. A decade and a half later, the two will face each other for the second time, and for the first time at a major. Venus won their only meeting, but that was two years ago on clay in Charleston. Keys has made progress since then, especially in the last 10 days in Melbourne.
At 34, Venus is also playing her best tennis in years. Keys has youth and fresh momentum; Venus has experience, and her legend, which was enough to make another young hard-hitter, Camila Giorgi, freeze up when she had their match in hand two rounds ago. The question here may be whether Keys can ignore who’s on the other side of the net, and forget for a minute why she’s playing this game in the first place. Winner: Keys
The streaky Domi, it has been said, can beat anyone on any given day. Anyone, that is, except Serena, who has a 4-0 record against the so-called Pocket Rocket. But while Serena rarely loses once she’s in the second week of a Slam, this one could take a little while. The American has lost the first set in her last two matches, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Cibulkova, who flew out of the gates in her win over Victoria Azarenka, blasted off to an early lead in this one as well. If she doesn’t, though, it’s hard to see her coming back. Winner: S. Williams
These two have played just once, in the U.S. Open quarterfinals last year; that was a see-saw slugfest full of collapses and comebacks that Nishikori won in five sets. As far as their form goes at the moment, Nishikori appears to have the edge; he was at his best in his straight-set dismissal of David Ferrer in the fourth round. But Wawrinka, despite some shaky moments against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Monday, has the advantage of knowing he can win the whole thing here. It’s a toss-up, so I’ll go with the slightly more consistent player. Winner: Nishikori
Welcome to the latest battle between old and new ATP guards. Will that guard change, or will the ancien régime reign for another day? The 27-year-old Djokovic and the 24-year-old Raonic—three years is enough to constitute a “generation” in tennis—have played three tour matches, and Raonic has managed to win just one set. His primary weapon, his serve, feeds into Djokovic’s best shot, his return; once they start to rally, there’s no contest. Two weeks ago, Raonic played with more dynamism and abandon than I’d seen from him before in the Brisbane final, an effort that nearly earned him a win over Roger Federer. The difference is that Djokovic, on his favorite court, doesn’t need to do anything special. Winner: Djokovic