Australian Open Betting / Ben Caudell / 23 January 2010 /

Andy Murray meets a giant American with a big serve in the fourth round in Melbourne. The Scot is one of the best returners in the game though, says Ben Caudell, so it should be a good match...

Andy Murray (GBR) v John Isner (USA)
Andy Murray faces his toughest test of the tournament so far when he takes on 6ft 9in American John Isner who, he believes, has the best serve in the game. This will be the first meeting between the two and the first match on the Rod Laver Arena court at 00:00 GMT.

This match will be all about serve and the return. Murray possesses one of the best returns of serve in the game, from his first three matches the Brit has broken serve a total of 21 times, including eight times against another big server, Kevin Anderson.

Tonight's match will prove to be a bigger challenge for Murray. The future looks bright for Isner and, after a tough off-season, he's at a career high of 28 in the world. He also won a tournament leading up to the Australian Open in Auckland and has recorded decent first and third round wins over Andreas Seppi and Gael Monfils respectively. So far, he has recorded a magnificent 81 aces and an average of 77% of first serve points won.

For Isner to have any chance of winning he needs to force the issue by coming forward and being aggressive. His game plan will rely heavily on his serve but his net play will be the real test. If he manages to put enough pressure on Murray to pass him at the net, this match could go all the way. Crucially though, Isner has not played anyone of Murrays Calibre so far in this tournament and if Murray takes some early breaks Isner could suffer a lapse in confidence. I believe this match will be won by Andy Murray but I expect Isner to win at least one set, so therefore will be backing over on the total games market and any handicaps in favour of the American.

Selection: Back Over 33.5 Games @ approx 1.7
Back Isner +6.5 Games @ approx 1.7
Back Murray 3-1 @3.8

Alona Bondarenko (UKR) v Jie Zheng (CHN)
Alona Bondarenko is in the form of her life at the moment, over the last two weeks she is 14-2 in sets won and 9-1 in matches. Her last defeat was against Francesca Schiavone at the Moscow premier event in October and since then she has won a tournament in Australia, the Hobart Open, where she defeated tonight's opponent, Jie Zheng in the quarter-finals. She beat Jelena Jankovic in the previous round of the Australian Open and is still to lose a set. This kind of form suggests that she has become a real threat to anyone in the women's game and a genuine contender for this year's title.

Jie Zheng has lost the first set in every match so far in the tournament; she has already knocked out two seeded players, Martinez Sanchez and Marion Bartoli and has a head-to-head advantage over the Ukrainian, leading the series 2-1. This match will close but with the confidence that Bondarenko is exuding at the moment, I can't back against her.

Selection: Back Alona Bondarenko @ [1.66] to win match
Back over 21.5 games @ [1.8]

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