AUSTRALIAN OPEN VIP TIP: Mackenzie McDonald vs. Yoshihito Nishioka

Details:

Mackenzie McDonald is 65th in the ATP rankings with his best result being at no. 48. The American is 4-2 for the season and is coming off the biggest win of his career defeating Rafael Nadal in the second round in straight sets - 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. In the first round, the 27-year-old defeated Brandon Nakashima in five sets

This is the first time for McDonald to make it to the third round in Melbourne in his sixth appearance. 

Yoshihito Nishioka is at his highest career rank at no. 33. The Japanese is 5-1 for the season and is coming off back-to-back straight set victories in the first two rounds of the tournament. 

First, he defeated Mikael Ymer 6-4, 6-2 and 7-5 and then went past Dalibor Svrcina 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

Nishioka has been playing in Melbourne since 2015 and this is the second time to reach the third round after he did the same in 2020.

Key facts

• Nishioka leads 4-1 against McDonald
• They played earlier this year in Adelaide with Nishioka winning 6-4, 6-3
• They met at the French Open in 2019 with Nishioka winning in five sets

This will be a great match between two players that have an eye on their biggest Grand Slam success. McDonald has made his name heard after a straight sets victory over Rafael Nadal. Yes, the 22-time Grand Slam champion played injured but no one can deny that McDonald fully deserved the win. Now the American is going against a player he had no much success in their five previous matches. Nishioka won 4 of them including one last week. Both players move well with Nishioka being a little faster. This will be a long match with physical preparation being an important factor. Both players are pretty short with McDonald being the taller one with 178cm so the serves will not make huge difference. However, this will be a long match with both players winning a set which will take the match over 36.5 games. If you want to pick the winner, then Nishioka is the smarter choice.

Value Bet

Over 4.5 sets

3.15

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