Australian Open 2022: Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Marin Cilic preview, head-to-head and prediction
Match Details
Fixture: (9) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs (27) Marin Cilic
Date: 24 January 2022
Tournament: Australian Open
Round: Fourth round (Round of 16)
Venue: Melbourne Park
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Hard
Prize Money: $75,000,000
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Sports Network, Sony Liv
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Marin Cilic preview
Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime will take on Croatian Marin Cilic in the fourth round of the 2022 Australian Open on Monday. While Auger-Aliassime beat Dan Evans 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 in the third round, Cilic upset fifth seed Andrey Rublev 7-5, 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3.
Auger-Aliassime made a fantastic start to the 2022 season at the ATP Cup, where he beat Cameron Norrie, Alexander Zverev and Roberto Bautista Agut to lead Canada to the title.
The 21-year-old has carried that form to the Melbourne Major, reaching the fourth round for the second straight year. But he has had to work hard to get his wins.
After outlasting Emil Ruusuvuori in a marathon five-setter in the opening round, the Canadian overcame Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in four tight sets in the second round. He then cruised past Dan Evans to take him to within one win of a maiden quarterfinal berth at Melbourne Park.
Marin Cilic, meanwhile, posted strong results in the lead-up to the Australian Open. Cilic reached the semifinals of two ATP 250 events in Adelaide, losing to Karen Khachanov and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The 2018 Australian Open finalist began his campaign in Melbourne with wins over qualifiers Emilio Gomez and Norbert Gombos in the first couple of rounds. He then produced arguably the upset of the tournament so far by taking down the in-form Andrey Rublev.
Cilic will look to build on his win against the Russian and advance to the last eight in Melbourne for the third time in his career.
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Marin Cilic head-to-head
The two players have met thrice before, with Marin Cilic leading the head-to-head 3-0. He won their most recent encounter in straight sets in Stuttgart last year.
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Marin Cilic prediction
Felix Auger-Aliassime is riding a wave of momentum from his triumph at the ATP Cup earlier this month. He has never beaten Marin Cilic before, but will nevertheless fancy his chances on Monday.
Cilic and Auger-Aliassime are similar in their approach. Both players are strong servers and won close to 90% of points on first serve in their previous matches. They both like to dictate play from the back of the court but have the tendency to suddenly go off the boil.
Ultimately, this could boil down to who plays the big points better. Auger-Aliassime has been involved in a number of tight situations this week and that might just give him the edge in this contest.
Prediction: Felix Auger-Aliassime to win in five sets.
Also check out: Australian Open 2022 Schedule of Play