Russia

Andrey Rublev

Denmark

Holger Rune

The Dane is in great form. Rune could reach the quarter-finals

Andrei Rublev and Holger Rune play in the Australian Open 1/8 final on 23 January. The Australian Open is a hard-court event in Melbourne. They have a history of one match. The Dane won it. Rublev has won previous editions of the Australian Open with convincing victories. Though his rivals were pretty strong. First Andrei beat Dominik Tim (6-3, 6-4, 6-2). Then the Russian got the upper hand over Emil Ruusuvuori (6:2, 6:4, 6:7, 6:3) and Daniel Evans (6:4, 6:2, 6:3). Rublev is the 2020 Olympic mixed doubles champion (paired with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova); winner of 15 ATP tournaments (12 of them singles); winner of the 2021 Davis Cup and the 2021 ATP Cup with the Russian team. The Russian is in a great mood. Andrei is in for a serious challenge in his upcoming meeting. Rune is talented and ambitious. The 19-year-old tennis player was one of the main discoveries of the last season. Like Andrei, he managed to reach the quarter-finals of Roland Garros. The Dane also reached the third round of the Australian Open. After that, he had a mind-blowing run. Runa won the tournament in Stockholm and the Masters in Paris, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas (6-4, 6-4) and Novak Djokovic (3-6, 6-3, 7-5) in the decider. Holger also reached the finals in Sofia and Basel. He has had an equally impressive run as Rublev in the Australian Open. The young Dane won all three rounds of the tournament without dropping a single set. First, Rune defeated Filip Krajinovic (6-2, 6-3, 6-4), then he beat Maxim Cressey (7-5, 6-4, 6-4) and Hugo Umber (6-4, 6-2, 7-6). Andrei and Holger have roughly equal chances of winning. The spectators in the stands will enjoy the game. Both players have excellent technique. Rublev noticeably improved during the tournament. He became calmer and more confident of his abilities. The match between the two men promises to be an interesting and eventful one. The bookies see Rune as the favourite. The Dane has a good chance of making it to the quarter-finals. Rune is likely to delight the fans in his clash with the Russian.