Roberto Bautista Agut will meet Andy Murray in the Third Round of the 2023 Australian Open. The match will be played on Saturday January 21st, 2023.
Roberto Bautista Agut is ranked 25th in the world and has been in mixed form so far at the 2023 Australian Open. After routinely dispatching Joao Sousa in the First Round in straight sets, he was expected to do the same when he was matched up against the talented but inexperienced Brandon Holt, son of Tracy Austin. However, he soon found himself in a deep hole at 2 sets to love down, and had do dig as deep as he possibly could to win in five sets. He will have to be at his best against his next opponent Andy Murray, who has been in tremendous form so far. RBA starts as the favorite, but this looks dead even.
Andy Murray has been in impressive form so far at the 2023 Australian Open, winning back to back five setters against Matteo Berrettini and Thanasi Kokkinakis. The victory against Berrettini was particularly impressive, as not many would have expected him to be able to pull that off. Against Kokkinakis, he displayed his tremendous fighting spirit, coming from two sets down to win. Murray is certainly capable of winning this match, but the obvious question is if he has enough left in the tank. If he is fully fit and ready, this is set to be a thriller.
This is almost guaranteed to be a blockbuster clash between two of the hardest working players on the ATP Tour. They are both highly experienced and never give their opponents an inch, so fans can be sure to expect loads of long rallies and fantastic tennis. After considering everything we are going to with Murray here, but it’s very close. He seems to find a way to win these big matches, and I think he will have just enough to get by RBA here. Of course, this is far from guaranteed, so we would likely recommend backing the overs on games played, or each player to win a set. This match is dead even in my opinion, and I expect five sets.