Tennis
2026-01-27 - Aryna Sabalenka vs Iva Jovic
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis : Australian Open Quarter Final
Tuesday 27th January 2025 - Scheduled 11:30am
12:30am (British Time)
Preview
For the thirteenth Grand Slam event in succession, Aryna Sabalenka has worked her way through to the Quarter Final, while she remains on course to compete for the title at the Australian Open for the fourth year in a row.
The top Seed did have an awkward Third Round win, but Aryna Sabalenka was able to control young upstart Victoria Mboko in the Fourth Round, although after blowing a lead in the second set and having to win the match on the Breaker to avoid having to go the distance.
In the main Aryna Sabalenka has to be very happy with the victory over Mboko, who looks like she is going to be competing at the very top of the WTA Tour in years to come.
Now the World Number 1 takes aim at another rising star on the Tour when taking on 18 year old Iva Jovic in the Quarter Final.
There has been plenty of noise about the potential of the 18 year old American, and the rise in the World Rankings over the last twelve months would have caught the eye. Iva Jovic entered the Australian Open as the World Number 27, meaning she was Seeded in the draw, but she is on course for a top 20 Ranking at the end of the event and there is even an opportunity to win the Grand Slam title and finish as a top 10 Ranked player.
All of those positives are almost certainly going to come for Iva Jovic, but the Auckland Finalist will also know that this is a big step in level of opponent. She has upset Jasmine Paolini in the Third Round in Melbourne, but Aryna Sabalenka has proven to be a consistent force on the WTA Tour and remains the favourite to win this title for a third time in four years.
The younger player has been serving very well in the tournament, but it should be noted that outside of the win over Jasmine Paolini, Iva Jovic has not had to face anyone higher than World Number 94 in other three wins. That has contributed to the stronger serving numbers, but anything that is not hitting the right marks in this one will be attacked by Sabalenka, who has been putting a lot of pressure right from the opening return of serve.
Iva Jovic has decent numbers on the return against top 50 Ranked opponents over the last twelve months, but that has slightly dipped against top 20 opponents.
The real issue is that the teenager has not faced Aryna Sabalenka and the power that will be felt from the other side of the court and it took Victoria Mboko a bit of time to become accustomed to that. However, she had been blown away in one set in that Fourth Round loss and Aryna Sabalenka feels capable of covering this spread, even if the match is plenty competitive at times.
Prediction
The top Seed has already made one statement to a young, improving player on the Tour and she can do that in the Quarter Final against Iva Jovic, who looks like someone that can win Major Titles in the years ahead.
The Pick :
Aryna Sabalenka 2-0 Iva Jovic
