World number 10 Gael Monfils will take on Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic in the second round of the 2020 Australian Open match. The match will be played on Thursday, January 23 and you can find the Gael Monfils v Ivo Karlovic live streaming options along with its preview, head to head and tips here.
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Gael Monfils v Ivo Karlovic Head to Head
This is an old rivalry that goes back to 2007 when they first played at the Sunrise Challenger and since then have featured in seven matches till 2016. Monfils leads 5-2 with Karlovic having won at the Cincinnati Masters and Nottingham Open on grass. Their last meeting came in the 2016 Tokyo Open which Monfils won in two tie-breakers.
Monfils Eases into Round Two
The Frenchman had earlier featured at the ATP Cup and played in two matches. He was an easy winner over Christian Garin in the opening match before Novak Djokovic tamed him 6-3, 6-2 in the second.
Interestingly, he was drawn to play 36-year-old Yen-hsun Lu in his opener here, a player no longer ranked on the ATP circuit after having reached a career-best of 33rd at one stage. And Monfils performed in the manner in which one would expect from against a player of that pedigree at the moment.
Monfils won 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to march into the second round where he will face a familiar opponent.
This comes on the back of a decent 2019 for Monfils where he won 38 of his 58 matches, including a 17-7 win-loss record on hard court surfaces. And having been beaten twice in a row at the second round stage of the Australian Open now, this will be a good opportunity for Monfils to go one better.
Tall-Serving Karlovic Looking to Make a Comeback
40-year-old Ivo Karlovic had a solid 2016 when he managed to reach the fourth round at the US Open but since then his performances have fallen away. In the 12 Grand Slam competitions that he featured in, Karlovic managed the third round only on two occasions, even failing to qualify for the 2018 US Open.
Last year was one of is worst in a long time as he was knocked out in the second round at each of the first three Grand Slams and first round at the US Open. He started off the 2020 season with a first round defeat at the qualifiers of the Doha Open but drawn to face another veteran on the circuit at the Australian Open, Karlovic defeated Vasek Pospisil in straight sets to make it to the round two.
Now comes his real test.
Gael Monfils v Ivo Karlovic Predictions & Tips
Monfils can be expected to steamroll Karlovic but there is every chance the Croat might be able to steal a set from his opponent thanks to his powerful serve.
Tip: Total Games – Over 40.5: 8/11 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)
You can watch & bet on Gael Monfils v Ivo Karlovic on Thursday, January 23 here. . Get the latest tennis predictions and tips here.
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