Each day during the Australian Open, Steve Tignor will look ahead to three of the most compelling matches in each draw.
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At 19, Kyrgios has already beaten Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon and charmed Victoria Azarenka on Twitter. Now he faces the supreme test: Playing Dr. Ace, Ivo Karlovic. Kyrgios is a flashy young man, but is he also a patient one? We’ll find out when these two start trading bombs in the fairly intimate confines of Show Court 3. Hopefully, for his sake, Kyrgios will take his exile there as a snub. Winner: Karlovic
Murray hasn’t dropped a set in two matches against Matosevic, but the Aussie with the sideways hat and motoring mouth say he’s finally “matured.” It's true, Matosevic has finally won a match at his home Slam, and he’ll have the crowd in Margaret Court Arena up in arms. But it’s Murray who has felt more comfortable in Australia in the past. He hasn’t lost before the quarters there since 2009. Winner: Murray
Which version of Bernie are we up to now? 3.0? 4.0? Bernie Forever? Whichever it is, the Aussie bad boy, who was once “misunderstood” but is now verging on irrelevance at age 22, has looked leaner, meaner, and tanner so far Down Under. So lean and mean that he beat Kohlschreiber last week in Sydney. Tomic Time doesn’t last past January, and it rarely travels past the Aussie borders, but he makes the most of it while he can. Winner: Tomic
With Ana Ivanovic out, Makarova has a much clearer path to a quarterfinal encounter with Simona Halep. But Vinci, a sporadically wily veteran with the purest one-handed around, has won two of their four previous matches. Winner: Makarova
Tuesday was a slow day for men’s matches; Wednesday, it the women’s turn, as should be obvious from my choice of this probable blow-out. Halep and Gajdosova, an Aussie by way of Slovakia, have never played. While Halep, the No. 3 seed, is the prohibitive favorite, she could face a test from the Fanatics in the crowd. Winner: Halep
I’ve been talking about a sophomore slump for Bouchard, but she hasn’t complied so far. Her second-round match will come in an evening session on Margaret Court Arena, against an opponent she has never faced. Winner: Bouchard