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Before each day's play at the Australian Open, we'll preview three must-see matches.

There are better-known players in action on Friday at Melbourne Park, but anyone interested in the future of the WTA will want to take a peek at this matchup between two of the tour’s promising newcomers. Last year, 20-year-old Sabalenka established herself as a force on tour. Now it seems to be the 17-year-old Anisimova’s turn: So far in 2019, she has won two matches in Auckland, and two more in Melbourne, including a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Lesia Tsurenko, a player ranked 60 spots ahead of her.

Sabalenka and Anisimova are both state-of-the-art players: They’re tall and rangy, and they like to hit hard, but they also play with a confidence and collectedness beyond their years. The American may catch up to the Belorussian soon, but probably not by Friday.

Winner: Sabalenka

Three to See, Day 5: Rising stars Anisimova, Sabalenka meet Down Under

Three to See, Day 5: Rising stars Anisimova, Sabalenka meet Down Under

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**Watch Anisimova vs. Sabalenka,

Ashleigh Barty vs. Maria Sakkari,

Taylor Fritz vs. Roger Federer,

Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Nikoloz Basilashvili

and Frances Tiafoe vs. Andreas Seppi

LIVE on Tennis Channel, beginning at 7 p.m. ET**

The Spaniard and the semi-Spaniard—de Minaur has dual Australian-Spanish citizenship—have met once, in the third round at Wimbledon last year. Not surprisingly, Nadal won by a routine, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 scoreline. But it wasn’t quite the blowout that those scores indicate. In the first set, the 17-time Grand Slam champion and the teenager wrestled for 10 minutes over a de Minaur service game, before Nadal finally broke. By the end, de Minaur, who was making his Centre Court debut, had shaken off the nerves and was fighting tooth and nail with Nadal. When Nadal served for the match, de Minaur pushed him to the limit, saving two match points before succumbing. The rallies were as spirited as you would expect from two of the game’s most cussed competitors.

When they meet again in Rod Laver Arena on Friday, expect de Minaur to jettison his early nerves quickly and pick up where he left off at the end of that third set at Wimbledon—i.e., giving the world No. 2 all he can handle, and matching him step for step and get for get. The question may be: Who will have the upper hand physically, if the match goes to four or five grueling sets? You might think that a 19-year-old would have the edge on a 32-year-old in that department. You might be right. But you’re probably wrong.

Winner: Nadal

Three to See, Day 5: Rising stars Anisimova, Sabalenka meet Down Under

Three to See, Day 5: Rising stars Anisimova, Sabalenka meet Down Under

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In this third-round fight between future Hall of Famers, Sharapova leads 6-4, while Wozniacki has the edge on hard courts, 4-3. That said, you can’t read too much into their history together, because it happened so long ago; the last time they met was in 2015.

Who should be favored now? Sharapova has obviously been sharp so far this week; she’s lost three games in two matches. But Wozniacki has also won both of her matches in straights and, more important, she’s the defending champion in Melbourne and ranked No. 3 in the world—while Sharapova has been spinning her wheels for the better of a year, and is stuck in the low 20s in the rankings. We know what we’re going to get when they face off: Wozniacki is going to ask the questions, in the form of ball after ball returned safely into the court; it’s going to be up to Sharapova to come up enough correct answers.

Winner: Wozniacki

Three to See, Day 5: Rising stars Anisimova, Sabalenka meet Down Under

Three to See, Day 5: Rising stars Anisimova, Sabalenka meet Down Under

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Kickoff each day of the 2019 Australian Open with Tennis Channel Live, reviewing the day's most important news and previewing the day's biggest matches. Watch LIVE at 6 p.m. ET.

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