Five best fourth round matches at 2024 Australian Open

The fourth round of the 2024 Australian Open starts Saturday night (Sunday in Melbourne). Here are the five best fourth round matches.

(2) Aryana Sabalenka–BLR vs. Amanda Anisimova–USA

Here we have the second seed, and 2023 Australian Open champion, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus versus Amanda Anisimova of Russia, the 2019 French Open semifinalist. Before you declare Sabalenka the champion, remember one thing. Anisimova has won four of five matches head-to-head. Anisimova won 6-3, 6-2 in the third round of the 2019 Australian Open, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the 2019 French Open, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the third round of Charleston in 2022, and 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round of Madrid in 2022. Sabalenka’s lone win was in the quarterfinals of Rome in 2022, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

(7) Stefanos Tsitsipas–GRE vs. (12) Taylor Fritz–USA

This matchup has Tsitsipas, the two-time grand slam finalist (2021 French Open and 2023 Australian Open), against Fritz, the two grand slam quarterfinalist (2022 Wimbledon and 2023 United States Open). Tsitsipas has won three of four prior meetings, including the fourth round of the 2022 Australian Open, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

(4) Jannik Sinner–ITA vs. (15) Karen Khachanov–RUS

This matchup has Sinner, the 2023 Wimbledon semifinalist versus Khachanov, the 2022 United States Open semifinalist and 2023 Australian Open semifinalist. Sinner has won two of three prior meetings. Khachanov won the first round of the 2020 United States Open, 3-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-0, 7-6. Sinner won the semifinals of the Great Ocean Road Open (an Australian Open tuneup event in 2021), 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, and the third round of the 2021 Miami Open, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4.

(5) Andrey Rublev–RUS vs. (10) Alex de Minaur–AUS

This intriguing matchup has two top 10 players. Head-to-head, Australia’s Alex de Minaur has won three of five matches. Their first meeting came in the semifinals of Washington in 2018, which was won by de Minaur, 5-7, 7-6, 6-4. Their next battle came in 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals with the quirky scoring system, which de Minaur won 4-1, 3-4, 4-1, 4-2. Russia’s Andrey Rublev then won 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters in 2022, De Minaur beat Rublev 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of Rotterdam in 2023, and then Rublev beat de Minaur 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Paris Masters.

(6) Alexander Zverev–GER vs. (19) Cameron Norrie–GB

This battle has Zverev, the 2020 United States Open finalist against Norrie, the 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist. Zverev has won all four prior meetings. They have come in the semifinals of Acapulco in 2019 (7-6, 6-3), in the second round of the Canadian Open in 2019 (7-6, 6-4), in the round robin of the 2022 ATP Cup (7-6, 6-1), and the second round of Vienna in 2023 (6-2, 6-4).