Three to See, Day 7: Gauff-Kenin; Barty-Riske; Federer-Fucsovics

Before each day's play at the 2020 Australian Open, we'll preview three must-see matches.

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Kenin is 21, and she’s trying to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Shouldn’t she get a chance to be billed as the next big thing in U.S. tennis? She certainly could be at some point, but not today. Today she’s facing a player who is six years younger than her, and who is rocketing up the tennis totem pole even faster than she is. Gauff and Kenin have never played at the WTA level, but it’s safe to say there will be feistiness. Both hit aggressively, but neither has the blazing power to end points immediately. In theory, that combination should make for entertaining rallies—not too short, not too long. Gauff was very solid in her last match, but her off-form opponent, Naomi Osaka, handed her a lot of freebies. I don’t think she’ll get them from Kenin. But I’ve picked against Coco and been wrong before.

Winner: Kenin

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Barty is ranked No. 1 in the world, but don’t tell Riske that. The American and the Aussie have faced each other two times, and the American has come out on top twice. Their last match was a big one, too: Riske knocked Barty out in three sets in the round of 16 at Wimbledon last year. Can she do the same thing, in the same round, in Melbourne? The change of surfaces and venues will make it more difficult. Riske’s game comes together on grass, which adds a little zip to her flat line drives. A hard court may neutralize that advantage against the spin-loving Barty. A hard court in Melbourne, filled with Barty partisans? That should be enough to put the world No. 1 over the top.

Winner: Barty

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The names of the players, their rankings, their head-to-head record: They all scream out for a Federer victory. The Swiss is ranked No. 3 to the Hungarian’s No. 67. He has won both of their previous meetings without dropping a set. And even the way Federer won his last match—coming back from 4-8 down in a fifth-set tiebreaker against John Millman—may make him feel as if he’s bullet proof right now. But there are a couple of reasons not to believe this will be a typical Federer mid-Slam party cruise. First, Fucsovics is a strong, solid, offensive-minded player who should be ranked higher than he is; he beat Denis Shapovalov in the first round and hasn’t surrendered a set since. Second, Federer has played a lot more tennis so far than Fucsovics, who is also 11 years younger. Federer is really not going to want to lose one of the first two sets, as he did against Millman, and find himself in another dogfight.

Winner: Federer