Australian Open preview and odds: Roger Federer vs Tomas Berdych

Published on: 25/01/2016

Australian Open preview and odds: Roger Federer vs Tomas Berdych

January 26 2016 from 11:00am - Rod Laver Arena

Australian Open - Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals of the Australian Open have thrown up some interesting match-ups including this clash between third-ranked Roger Federer and sixth-ranked Tomas Berdych.

Federer a serial semi-finalist

Roger Federer will be looking to advance to his 12th final in 13 years when he squares up to Tomas Berdych on Tuesday in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

It has been a fairly smooth ride to this stage of the tournament for the Swiss legend, with a dropped set against Dimitrov the only mark on his record book so far.

He breezed past World No. 15 David Goffin in the last round, but now faces his first big challenge as he takes on the talented Czech player.

Key stats from Federer`s fourth round match:

- First serve success: 63%

- Points won on first serve: 86%

- Points won on second serve: 64%

- Net points won: 86%

- Unforced errors: 20

- Returns won: 47%

- Break points won: 6 out of 13

Berdych pushed all the way in Round 4

The road to the quarter-finals has been a lot tougher for the 30-year-old Czech, who needed five sets to see off the challenge of Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.

One of the key points to that match was Berdych`s ability to win points when serving with a 30-30 or deuce score-line. In total, he won 86% of all available points from these situations. However, Federer will not be so forgiving and Berdych will need to be more dominant early on in his service game.

The World No. 6 will also have to improve his break point conversion rate which stood at a poor 18% in the last round.

Key stats from Berdych`s fourth round match:

- First serve success: 62%

- Points won on first serve: 73%

- Points won on second serve: 50%

- Net points won: 74%

- Unforced errors: 57

- Returns won: 36%

- Break points won: 4 out of 22

Betting odds and tips

Berdych could cause Federer some problems especially if he is brave enough to take him on at the net. Much will depend on his return serve and his ability to close out the pressure situations. However, it is hard to see him taking more than one set of the former champ.

Roger Federer to win 3-1 can be backed at 11/4 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 25/01/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (25/01/2016 15:18:25) but are subject to change.