Anderson – Gasquet

One of the most evenly matched third round encounters at the Australian Open will see 14th seed Kevin Anderson take on 24th seed Richard Gasquet.

Kevin Anderson currently holds the highest ranking of his career at number 15, coming after his best season ever in 2014. The South African is on the back of a semifinal showing in Auckland, losing to eventual champion Vesely and has played reasonably well so far at the Australian Open. Kevin needed three sets to defeat Schwartzman in the first round, but improved in the second to blow out Berankis in 3 easy sets. Obviously one of the best servers on tour, Anderson gave away 4 breaks in the first round but did not allow a single break point in the second.

Gasquet had an awful 2014 and didn`t look much better at the start of this year, getting blown out by Berdych in Doha, playing some error-filled tennis. However, Richard cruised trough the first two rounds here at the Open, looking brilliant at times, showing a clear improvement – most notably NOT losing serve so far. It has to be said though that Berlocq and Duckworth were not exactly top class opponents.

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Richard leads the H2H 4-1 and easily won he last meeting, a 6-3 6-4 victory last year in Miami. He seems to hold a clear matchup advantage, dominating Anderson and leading 10-2 in sets besides the 4-1 H2H.

If the matchup did not look so bad for Anderson I would be tempted to give him a try, as Gasquet hasn`t played his best tennis in a while and I don’t trust his wins against the likes of Berlocq and Duckworth – but Richard knows how to play Kevin and that will help him a lot. The tip I like here is a tiebreak to happen in the first set – both guys are great severs, Anderson of course a huge server actually. Gasquet never lost serve this week, Anderson did not lose serve in the second round. Two of their five meetings had a tiebreak in the first set. On top of it all I think the circumstances are good for this bet as it`s an evenly matched encounter and nobody wants to fall behind in sets – look for a lot of focus from both guys on their own serves in the start of the match.

My tip on this one is a tiebreak to occur in the first set. Prediction: Kevin Anderson – Richard Gasquet 7-6 4-6 6-7 4-6.

Pick: Tiebreak in the first set – Yes
Odds: 3.25 @ Bet365
Stake: 6
Possible profit: 13.5
Event date: 23 January