Australian Open 2016: Sunday Schedule, Predictions for Melbourne Bracket
Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova look to be on a collision course for another high-profile meeting in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Australian Open. Both women will be in action in the fourth round on Sunday, and wins by the No. 1 and No. 5 seed, respectively, will set up a 21st career meeting between the two.
Williams has breezed through the first three rounds, and she faces unseeded Russian Margarita Gasparyan. Per the tournament's Twitter account, no player has won more matches in Melbourne:
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Sharapova has a much more difficult draw on paper. She must defeat No. 12 seed Belinda Bencic. The two have never played before, and it's unclear whether the lack of familiarity will favor Sharapova on Sunday. If she and Williams both win, there won't be a lack of familiarity in the fourth round.
Williams has dominated the career series against Sharapova, winning 18 of the 20 matches.
Here's a look at the schedule and predictions for all of the singles matches on tap for Sunday in Melbourne.
| No. 12 Belinda Bencic vs. No. 5 Maria Sharapova | Sharapova |
| No. 1 Serena Williams vs. Margarita Gasparyan | Williams |
| No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 14 Gilles Simon | Djokovic |
| No. 24 Roberto Bautista Agut vs. No. 6 Tomas Berdych | Berdych |
| No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. No. 7 Kei Nishikori | Nishikori |
| No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Anna-Lena Friedsam | Radwanska |
| No. 10 Carla Suarez Navarro vs. Daria Gavrilova | Navarro |
| No. 3 Roger Federer vs. No. 15 David Goffin | Federer |
You can see the entire schedule here.
Tsonga vs. Nishikori is Potential Match of the Day
If there's one match on Sunday's schedule that is a must see, it's the Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Kei Nishikori tilt. The two men have played six times in their careers, with Nishikori winning four of those matches. One of the meetings was a five-set battle at the 2012 Australian Open.
They also met at the 2015 French Open. This, too, ended in five sets, but it was the Frenchman Tsonga who was victorious on his own home soil. While Tsonga will almost always put up a valiant effort, Nishikori seems to have his number when the match isn't being played on clay.
Nishikori is 4-1 against Tsonga on every other surface. Expect another five-set battle, but Nishikori will prevail.
Djokovic Will Handle Simon
Novak Djokovic was made to work for his spot in the third round by No. 28 Andreas Seppi. Ultimately, the top seed advanced 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6). He talked about the tough match with Seppi—specifically the third-round tiebreaker, per the tournament's Twitter account:
Seppi was able to give Djokovic a few issues, but it should be business as usual against Giles Simon.
The head-to-head series between No. 1 seed Djokovic and No. 9 seed Simon is approaching Williams vs. Sharapova status. The two men have played a total of 10 times, and like Williams over Sharapova, Djokovic has dominated Simon.
Djokovic has a 9-1 record against Simon, but this is the first time he will have played him at the Australian Open. In fact, this is only Djokovic and Simon's second meeting in a Grand Slam event.
The only previous match in one of the big four tournaments came in 2014 when Djokovic handed Simon a straight-sets defeat (6-4, 6-2, 6-4) at Wimbledon. The only time Simon has beaten Djokovic was in 2008 at the Open 13 in Marseille.
Obviously, quite a bit has changed with Djokovic's game since then. Look for another straight-sets win as Djokovic marches into the quarterfinals.
All stats per Wettpoint.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
