Madison Keys v Victoria Azarenka Betting Tips [20 January 2023]

10th seed Madison Keys will battle it out with former champion Viktoria Azarenka in the 3rd round of the 2023 Australian Open on Friday at the Rod Laver hard court. It will be the fourth time that the two will meet in the WTA circuit. Azarenka, seeded 24th, has the upper hand having won all three previous matches. The winner will progress to the 4th round where a tie with either 6th seed Maria Sakkari or 87th ranked Zhu Lin awaits. Two-time Australian Open champion Viktoria Azarenka has been in fine form, and took just three hours and one minute to see off her previous two opponents. The 33-year-old defeated 197th-ranked Argentine Nadia Podoroska 2-0 in round 2 and needed just 57 minutes to do so. Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, put up a much tougher fight but was also eliminated in straight sets, the second going to a tie-break. Azarenka is currently down one place in the live rankings to 25th and progressing from this round will see her move up to 22nd. The Belarusian came into the year’s first Grand Slam on the back of two successive losses. She will be hoping to make the 4th round for the second successive year.

Madison Keys is also in fine form to start the year and is hoping to ride this and better her semi-final appearance in last year’s Australian Open. The American defeated 79th-ranked Xinyu Wang in straight sets of 6-3, 6-2 to advance to this stage. In the first round, she got the better of Anna Blinkova 2-1 (dropping the second set). The 27-year-old came into the tournament having won six successive matches with five being at the inaugural United Cup in Australia where the United States were victorious. A win against Azarenka is vital in keeping her current rank of 13th. She is however down to 19th in the live ranking as she defends the points won here last year.

Madison Keys has the better form in 2023 but the head-to-head record is in Viktoria Azarenka’s favour. Both are superior on hard surface and have each enjoyed success on this stage. We foresee a fascinating battle that will likely go to the final set with Keys breaking the losing streakagainst her opponent and get the win.