Three to See, Day 4: Djokovic faces Monfils; Sharapova back in action

Before each day's play Down Under, we'll preview and predict three must-see matches.

After six months off, it took Djokovic only a few games to put himself back into cruise control in his lopsided first-round win over Donald Young. The risky second serves, the full-cut crosscourt forehands, the touch shots around the net: everything seemed to fall into place within minutes for Djokovic.

Now we need to ask: can he sustain something like that level for two weeks, or was he just loose and relaxed because he was ahead on the scoreboard and his opponent wasn’t offering much resistance? We’ll get a much better idea when Djokovic goes up against Monfils. The Frenchman, who won a title in Doha the first week of the season, may be the most dangerous second-round opponent that a seed could face at this point in the tournament. But he also happens to be someone that Djokovic has beaten in all 14 ATP-level matches they’ve played, dating back to 2005. Winner: Djokovic

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Like Djokovic, Sharapova looked sharp in her return to Melbourne after a year away. Like Djokovic, her slightly revamped and restrained serve was a qualified success—she only double faulted three times. But also like Djokovic, Sharapova will now put that new serve up against a trickier opponent. The 14th-seeded Sevastova, a master of finesse, was tricky enough to eliminate Sharapova on her way to the US Open quarterfinals last year.

Can Sevastova do it again? She got a lot of help from a badly misfiring Sharapova that day in New York, the kind of help you can’t count on getting again from a five-time Grand Slam champ. Winner: Sharapova

Pray for the balls that will be used when these two aim their cannon fire at each other on Thursday. The Argentine and the Russian met for the first time in Auckland two weeks ago, and Delpo emerged a 7-6 (4), 6-3 winner. Del Potro finished 2017 in good form, and he hasn’t lost that form so far in 2018; it has been enough to finally put him back in the Top 10.

Delpo is also one of the few guys who might look at his draw—he’s scheduled to face Roger Federer in the quarterfinals—as an opportunity rather than a death sentence. The 21-year-old Khachanov is a player for the future, but the 29-year-old De Potro, who has fought for three years to get back to this position, is a player for now. Winner: Del Potro

Halep and Bouchard met three times in 2014; that year it looked as if the Romanian and the Canadian were beginning a rivalry that would be played out in Grand Slam finals. Halep, currently ranked No. 1, has kept up her end of that bargain; Bouchard, currently ranked No. 82, hasn't. But while Halep won two of their three matches in 2014, Bouchard won the one that people remember, in the Wimbledon semifinals. Halep twisted her ankle during that match; unfortunately, she twisted her ankle again in the first round in Melbourne on Tuesday. But Halep still advanced, and provided she's not too hobbled, she should advance again on Thursday. Winner: Halep

Read Joel Drucker and Nina Pantic on TENNIS.com as they report from the Australian Open, and watch them each day on The Daily Mix:

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