Kevin Anderson will play his second round match at the 2019 Australian Open against Frances Tiafoe.
Watch & bet on Kevin Anderson v Frances Tiafoe live with bet365 here* on Wednesday, January 16. The Anderson v Tiafoe second round match will start at around 11:00 am local time (12:00 am BST).
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Kevin Anderson v Frances Tiafoe Head to Head
These two have met each other on three previous occasions, all three matches came in 2018 and Kevin Anderson won all three times. Incidentally all three of them came on hard court surfaces.
Two of those three saw Tiafoe fight hard after losing the first set, levelling it in the second before losing the third – at New York and Tokyo. It was only at the Miami Masters round of 16 that Anderson was able to win in straight sets against his American opponent.
Anderson Off to a Slow Start
South Africa’s fifth seed Anderson did not have the quickest starts to his campaign but he will be pleased to have made it past the first round at the very least. The last time he did that was at the 2015 Australian Open, following which he lost his openers at the 2016 and 2018 editions and didn’t participate in 2017.
He won 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 against Adrian Mannarino.
Having had an excellent 2018, with a runner-up place against Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, overcoming Mannarino would have been pleasing especially after losing the first round match last year to Britain’s Kyle Edmund in five sets.
Against Mannarino, he had his issues in the second set where he dropped his serve twice after having achieved an early break to lose it 7-5. But he came back to win his encounter in two hours 53 minutes at the Melbourne Arena.
He said of the win:
“It was really hot out here. I thought we were going to hit the heat rule, but no luck.”
Tiafoe Scythes First-Timer
The American was luckier in that he was facing first-time qualifier, India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran and aside of needing some resolve in the first set, Tiafoe ran away with the encounter. The Indian took that match to the tie-breaker and even had a chance to win it before Tiafoe went running with the set and the rest of the match as well.
What would please Tiafoe even more is that the win breaks a run of five successive losses including four this season. He lost all his singles matches at the Hopman Cup where he was partnering Serena Williams for the USA before falling at the first hurdle at the Sydney International.
Anderson v Tiafoe – Who Will Win?
Anderson should begin favourite, especially with his fighting capabilities and good form. Tiafoe might have won his opening round match with ease and is one of the Next Gen players to watch but against some of the top players, he has a lot of work to be done – having never made the fourth round of Grand Slam tennis or at the Masters either.
Anderson to win this but might drop a set doing that.
You can watch & bet on Kevin Anderson v Frances Tiafoe live with bet365 here on Wednesday, January 16.
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