Australian Open in Melbourne, round of 16, Sunday, 21.01.2024
Is someone making himself the top favorite while Novak Djokovic is weakening? Jannik Sinner is playing extremely well at this Australian Open, giving his opponents no chance and fighting his way through to the last 16 at breakneck speed.
Now he faces the toughest opponent by name, but that’s no reason for the bookmakers to change their minds about the South Tyrolean as the clear favorite.
In my Sinner Khachanov betting tip, I reveal why I would also go for a 3:0 (the matching odds are 1.90 at Bet-at-Home)
It took a few years for Jannik Sinner to finally get rid of his Grand Slam curse. His good performances always ended in the quarter-finals, but since Wimbledon 2023 we have known that he can also survive this round.
Last year, the 22-year-old had possibly the best season of his career and moved up to fourth place in the rankings, but of course he doesn’t want to stop there.
His last appearance in Melbourne was in the last 16 and quarter-finals, and so far in 2024 he has given the impression that this cannot happen again. Sinner didn’t just somehow make it through to the round of 16, he went on a real storming run
After his 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 win against Botic van de Zandschulp, his compatriot Jesper de Jong also had no chance with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 win. However, Sinner had probably saved his best performance for the 3rd round.
Although Sebastian Baez was seeded 26th and therefore certainly not one of the worst, Sinner didn’t let him breathe and swept him away with a 6-0, 6-1, 6-3.
Van de Zandschulp had only managed one break against this very strong Sinner, but the other two consistently gritted their teeth on his opponent’s serve. Alarmingly for the competition, the young Italian didn’t even have to go close to his limits
So far, he has simply succeeded in everything, so it’s no wonder that Karen Khachanov shouldn’t be able to stop him either. The two have already played each other three times, with a narrow 2:1 win for Sinner.
The most recent duel was in Miami in 2021, so it was some time ago. If you take a look at Betano, you’ll see: Average odds of 1.12 to 5.50 suggest that Khachanov is likely to have an incredibly difficult time.
The Russian is actually ranked quite high as number 15 in the world, but his two appearances in Down Under so far could have been much better. Four sets each, a few tiebreaks and a lot of luck – that won’t be enough against Sinner!
Khachanov had started with a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 against Daniel Altmaier, followed shortly afterwards by a 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 against Aleksandar Kovacevic. He had already given away 21 break chances by then, when the match against Tomas Machac was to take place
6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6? There couldn’t have been a much closer result! Khachanov had the short end of the stick both in terms of points won and in the return of serve category, knowing full well in the end that he’d been pushed further.
Machac had 19 (!) break opportunities! All in all, the Russian had a total of 40, so the fact that he made it through to the round of 16 must have seemed a little scary to him at times.
After all, it went to a tie-break four times and the 27-year-old kept his nerve four times. It was a year ago that Khachanov surprised everyone by reaching the semi-finals in Melbourne, but Yoshihito Nishioka was a much easier opponent in the round of 16
My Sinner Khachanov tip
Jannik Sinner’s triumph may not come as a surprise, but you first have to manage to carry your top form from the previous year over into the new year.
There’s absolutely nothing for me to criticize, everything the Italian does works. Karen Khachanov, on the other hand, is a completely different story, with the outsider’s luck increasing from match to match.
I can’t imagine that he will be able to keep up with Sinner’s class or even take a set, so I’m betting on him:
Sinner wins easily against Khachanov!
