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Taylor Fritz is seeded No.8 at the 2023 Australian Open as he enters his seventh year in the competition. The 25-year-old talented American has been on the ATP circuit for a few years and has made significant progress in the last couple of years. He has managed to stay in the top 50 for the last four years and reached as high as No.8 in the ATP rankings in October 2022. The tall American possesses a great big serve and a strong double-handed backhand. He reached the round of 16 last year and will look to better that result this time around as he faces Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round.
Nikoloz has been on tour for almost a decade and will be appearing at his eighth Australian Open. He is currently ranked 89th in the world, but reached his career-high ranking of 16 in 2019. Since then, he has had ups and downs in his career. There has been a lack of consistency in his game. Nikoloz crashed out of the tournament in the first round in four out of his seven appearances. In 2018 and 2019, he managed to reach the round of 32, his personal best so far. He is now tasked with facing a tough opponent in the form of Fritz.
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Taylor Fritz vs. Nikoloz Basilashvili: Betting Odds
Taylor is a tall right-handed player who has big serves and a good ground game. 2022 was a great year for the American as he won three big titles, including the Indian Wells - 1000 ATP Masters title. He is now a part of the next group of young, talented players.
Nikoloz Basilashvili has played two games this year and has lost both of them; this is going to be a big test for him.
Taylor Fritz vs. Nikoloz Basilashvili: Match Details
Fixture: Taylor Fritz @ Nikoloz Basilashvili
Date & Time: Monday, January 16, 9:00 p.m. ET
Venue: John Cain Arena, Melbourne Park
Taylor vs. Nikoloz: Prediction
Interestingly, the two players have met each other four times and have won two games each. Since all the games have been played on hard courts, we can expect the upcoming encounter to be exciting. However, there is a big gap in current form between the two players as Fritz has improved dramatically over the last year.
Final Prediction: Taylor -9.5 (+105)
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