Australian Open 2024: Carlos Alcaraz vs Lorenzo Sonego preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (2) Carlos Alcaraz vs Lorenzo Sonego
Date: January 18, 2024
Tournament: Australian Open 2024
Round: Second round (Round of 64)
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Hard (Outdoor)
Prize Money: A$86,500,000
Live telecast: USA - ESPN & Tennis Channel | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Sports & Sony Liv | Canada - TSN & RDS
Carlos Alcaraz vs Lorenzo Sonego preview
2023 Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz will lock horns with Lorenzo Sonego in the second round of the 2024 Australian Open on Thursday.
Alcaraz didn't compete in any warm-up tournaments before the season's first Major. Instead, he played just a couple of exhibition matches in which he defeated Casper Ruud but lost to Alex de Minaur.
Alcaraz's first official match of the new season was his opening-round bout against veteran Richard Gasquet at the Australian Open. The first set was a close affair, mainly due to the young Spaniard wasting quite a few break-point chances throughout the set.
Alcaraz then came out on top in the tie-break to end Gasquet's resistance. The floodgates opened after that as the World No. 2 dropped just three more games in the match to secure a 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-2 win.
Sonego was up against Dan Evans in the first round here. The Italian was on the backfoot after going down an early break in the opening set. While he saved three set points for a hold of serve to make it 5-4, his opponent closed out the set in the following game.
Neither player came close to a break point in the second set, which went to a tie-break. Sonego blew a couple of set points and then had to save one too after that. He finally wrapped up the set on his third opportunity to level the proceedings.
Sonego claimed the third set with relative ease as he broke Evans' serve twice to do so. The fourth set was decided by a tie-break as well, which went the Italian's way as he scored a 4-6, 7-6 (8), 6-2, 7-6 (4) win.
Carlos Alcaraz vs Lorenzo Sonego head-to-head
Sonego leads Alcaraz 1-0 in the head-to-head. He won their previous encounter at the 2021 Cincinnati Masters in straight sets.
Carlos Alcaraz vs Lorenzo Sonego odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Carlos Alcaraz vs Lorenzo Sonego prediction
Alcaraz made things quite difficult for himself against Gasquet. He went 0/9 on break points in the first set, and 4/16 on them overall. The Frenchman's far from his best these days, so the 20-year-old wasn't left to rue the missed opportunities.
Aside from that, it was a pretty good match from Alcaraz, considering it was his first of the season. He hit 53 winners, had half as many unforced errors, and won 73 percent of his first-serve points.
Sonego rose to the occasion to down Evans as well in the previous round. He rained down 23 aces and won 82 percent of his first-serve points. He also bested Alcaraz the last time they crossed paths, but that was before the Spaniard's ascension to the top of the men's game.
Things are likely to be quite different this time. If Sonego maintains his form from the last round, he could put Alcaraz in a spot of bother. But the World No. 2 should be able to maneuver his way around to progress further.
Pick: Carlos Alcaraz to win in four sets.